


Caught In A Storm

by Basched



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Het, M/M, Slash, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-12
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2017-11-07 14:10:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 58,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/432023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Basched/pseuds/Basched
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When two heroes meet for the first time, alien physiology and a super serum creates complications for Earth and Asgard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Caught In A Storm

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Avengers fic. Though I have been a bit of an on/off fan of the comics for a long time, (I have nooo clue what's going on now except in the film Verse.) I've always loved the Avengers, Captain America and Thor being my favourites. Now I can't seem to stop shipping those two and I had to do something about it. 
> 
> As this is fan fiction I've decided to weave my own little 'verse. I have ideas I really want to explore, especially more about the differences between humans and Asgardians. 
> 
> My main thanks go to Kayim who showed me this place, gave me the thumbs up on my story and told me to post it up. Thank you lass! I'm so grateful. Also I want to thank Accursed Spatula for inspiring me after reading her fantastic fic High Voltage. Cheers! 
> 
> This is not beta'd so there will be mistakes, I'll try my best to sort them out. 
> 
> I hope you like.

It’s the most unusual storm the city has ever seen. It’s also completely unexpected, for the weather report had told of nothing but sun, high temperatures and high humidity. The rain falls steady and endless but it dowses instead of drowns; the humidity which still stifles the air is eased by the freshness of the rain and as the lightning and thunder light up the heavens, the air is charged with a vibrant energy that seems to coarse through every inhabitant. 

It’s the kind of storm that has people laughing as they try to run for cover. It’s the kind that has those who love it standing out in the streets with their arms out to the sides and their heads tilted back with their mouths wide open. 

This is a storm unlike any other. 

 

\----------------

Eleven hours later, there was still a static charge and heavy humidity in the air. 

Thor feels it as he paces up and down on the balcony. He feels the power rippling through his entire body as he takes in deep heavy breaths, the momentary control he gains, dissipates the dark clouds outside. 

He stopped pacing and leaned on the rail of the balcony. He was still so hot, he was burning up and so he flicked his hand to discard some of his pent up energy. The crackling sparks of electricity shot from his fingers, snaked along the railings of the balcony and down the side of the building before disappearing. 

It didn’t do much to sate him. Even when he held Mjölnir the feelings intensified instead of eased. He was charged, he had the power and craving for more, he wanted to carry on but it wasn’t possible. He should be thankful that it lasted this long, that it drew on for so many hours. 

_“Apologies for interrupting, Thor…but I have had some requests from Mr Stark and the others. They wanted me to ask if the storm has finished for good?”_

Thor turned away from the balcony, walked back into the room smiling up towards the ceiling-as if directing it towards the AI- and ran his hands through his hair. The power his body was still producing and wanting to expend was not letting him settle. Thor couldn’t promise anything to his fellow teammates about what would happen afterwards, but for now…the storm had indeed past. 

“I am sorry JARVIS.” Thor said walking slowly over to his bed. He sat down on a chair by the side and leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs as he looked at his bed’s sleeping occupant. “It was not my intention to cause such…disturbances. Please tell Stark and the others that the storm has ceased for now and send them my apologies as well.”

_“Of course, sir.”_

“Good night, JARVIS.” 

_“Actually, good morning would be more accurate, sir. It is nearly five thirty a.m. However, the sentiment is appreciated. Thank you. Sleep if you can, sir.”_

Thor chuckled, for the thought of sleep right now was the furthest thing from his mind. He couldn’t even contemplate it, not when he was feeling so fuelled, so alive. The urge to go back to bed, to lie next to—or on or beneath—that sleeping form was very strong, but he knew that if he did, if he even so much as touched that slickened skin, he wouldn’t be able to help himself. So he remained seated, he clutched his hands together and closed his eyes. 

Thor groaned in frustration as he remembered every glorious moment, every kiss, every touch and motion and feeling within. Instinctively Thor coiled his palm around his erection and hoped he could take the edge off of the raging urges he was having, but even the gentle and hard motions of his palm and the strong grip of his fingers did nothing. He could not sate himself. 

Another frustrated moan escaped his mouth and Thor opened his eyes, got to his feet and started pacing the room again. 

“Why don’t you go for a run?” murmured a muffled and extremely fatigued voice from the bed. 

Thor stopped pacing as a sudden surge of hope swelled up in his chest. Outside there was a faint but distant boom of thunder. 

When he looked back to the bed, he saw that his partner hadn’t moved. 

“I cannot leave the compound without an escort.” Thor replied, grinning and settling back into the chair. His gaze lingered on the tempting flesh laid out before him and his whole body began to tremble, his mouth filled with slaver and the pain of hardness between his legs intensified, making him clench. 

“How about the gym?” moaned another reply. 

“I would go there if I knew that it would help. Alas, it is not what I need…nor want.”

Thor felt the smile rather than saw it. 

“Are all you Asgardians like this?” came another groggy response. 

Thor frowned in confusion. “Like what?” 

“I meant, are all your people as energetic as you? Is your current state normal for your kind?”

Ah! Thor smiled and nodded his head. “Yes!”

There was the sound of rustling sheets and at last Thor could see the wearied, fatigued and slightly goofy look of pleasure upon the red flustered face. 

“So I take it you’re still wanting to…?”

Thor nodded and closed his eyes again as a throbbing ache panged through his entire body. A much louder crack of thunder sounded outside. 

It was not easy to keep control on his powers when he was feeling like this. 

“Good god, how long can you typically go?”

There was not going to be any kind of benefit from lying about this answer. Thor smiled, slyly. 

“Days, sometimes longer.” 

There was a startled choke.

“ _Days? Longer?_ ” 

“It is possible. Aye.” 

“Longer? How much longer?”

“It depends. It is our norm to last a great deal. Our bodies can endure a lot more than any on Midgard, our drives are stronger and to satiate those drives it often requires more than mere minutes or hours. It can vary on whether it is with man or woman, but yes…it can take much longer, one of your Earth weeks, mayhap?” He didn’t miss the shocked expression gazing back at him. “We are vastly different and humans do not have the stamina or endurance to match us, in battle nor in sex.” Thor bowed his head. “Forgive me… _most_ humans cannot withstand us…especially when our attraction towards them is deep. It’s then it can become most dangerous.” 

Thor immediately felt the look. He flicked his eyes up and sure enough there was the sympathy, regret and worry and it was the last thing he wanted. He held up his hand and shook his head, smiling kindly in return.

“Thank you, but there is no need to console me. I’m fine. Jane Foster is happy where she is now.”

“You still love her, don’t you?”

Thor nodded. “Aye. Very much. My feelings for her cannot wane.”

“What about us? How did we get here?” 

Thor was again confused at the question. His head tilted to the side as he tried to comprehend why he was being asked what they both already knew. “I asked you to come here with me and you said yes.”

“That’s not quite what I meant. After we....when you and I.... I was pretty messed up.” 

Thor smiled weakly and got up from the chair, picking up a discarded pair of jogging bottoms from the floor and slipping them and a t-shirt on.

He couldn’t talk about why or how this had happened because Thor wasn’t entirely sure how they’d got here either. Eventually they would have to talk, he would have to explain that there was more to what he had just said, but right now, it was taking all of his strength and effort to stop himself from ripping the clothes off and climbing back on that bed.

“Thor? I need to know. This…what happened…it wasn’t easy for me. I wasn't myself after you left.” 

“I know you do.” Thor smiled and from the side table, he picked up a small black band and tied the long sweaty strands of his hair away from his face. “You need rest and if I stay I know you will not get what you need.” 

“You know what I need?” There was a slight tone of amusement beneath the seriousness. 

“I do indeed. Forgive me, I do not mean to demean you, or discard you thinking all this folly. I would gladly, most eagerly, join you again, I would have you within me too, but you need respite, and so I must leave. I will not cause you injury because of my lust. So sleep and rest before my return. That is if you wish to remain until I do?” 

“I don’t think I can go anywhere even if I wanted to.” There was an amused smirk. “Go. I’ll still be here.”

Thor bowed his head in gratitude and slowly opened the door. Again he paused and watched as Captain Steve Rogers turned back over to his front and doze off into another slumber. 

This was not how he had planned his return to Midgard to be.


	2. Weather Warning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alas these characters do not belong to me, even though I would dearly love to own Thor and Captain America. *sigh*
> 
> Also quotes from the fillim, not originally written by me. 
> 
> Enjoy.

The treadmill was doing nothing, as he suspected. The physical exertion he was putting himself through was only making his need worse, it was making him harder and all he could think of was to return to his room and claim more of the human man lying in his bed.

“No!” 

Thor swiped a fist angrily in defiance, succeeding only in snapping the treadmill in two and breaking it completely. Frustrated even more, Thor stepped out of the treadmill remains and began to pace in frantic circles in the gym. After two hours of trying everything, nothing had worked. 

_“Have you finished your work out, sir?_ ” J.A.R.V.I.S politely interrupted and caused Thor to stop in mid pace. 

Some of Thor’s hair had come loose from the tie and were now plastered by his sweat against his face and neck, Thor pushed them out of the way and looked up, again as if the AI was somehow situated in the ceiling. 

_“Apologies again, but if you have finished? I can assess the damage.”_

There was damage? 

Thor groaned in dismay. 

Tony Stark’s gym looked like a war zone. All the equipment lay in ruins and the punch bags—Steve’s punch bags—were scattered about in such tiny remains over the floor, that if he didn’t know, he wouldn’t have been able to tell they’d been punch bags in the first place. It was a good thing Thor didn’t punch the walls for his Asgardian strength would have surely knocked down half the tower. 

Thor felt the guilt and regret pang in his chest and he shook his head in dismay. 

“It is I who should be sorry, JARVIS. I shall of course help with replacing the broken apparatus.”

_“No need, Thor. Mr Stark will have it all in hand. Forgive me for asking, but are you okay?”_

“You are most perceptive.”

_“The destruction of the gym is a big clue, sir.”_

Thor smiled weakly. 

“I am not myself, JARVIS and nothing I do seems to be able to return me to normal.”

 _“Is there anything I can do?”_

Thor shook his head and plonked himself down on a piece of furniture that wasn’t broken. 

“No, there is nothing, unless there is a mission to test a warrior’s mettle? Might there be a worthy opponent with whom I could do battle with, yet not physically injure? Too much?”  


There was a brief pause, as the AI thought about possible answers to Thor’s question. 

_“Doctor Banner is away on a mission of his own, Mr Stark I am certain will not wish get up at this time of morning and I believe Captain Rogers is still…out for the count?”_  


Thor smiled at the AI. Of course this system was designed to keep tags on all the Avengers in the tower and the eleven hour storm wasn’t exactly subtle. 

“There is no one else who can provide me a challenge?” 

_“None at present. Is there a way you can return to Asgard, sir? Surely one of your people can assist you with any medical problem you have?”_

Medical problem?

Thor tried to keep himself from laughing, but failed. The laugh wasn’t a happy one.

This was his AEsir physiology at work on a world that couldn’t keep up with it. To return to Asgard would be a very simple solution, he needed to eventually. He could go back and carry out the bonding Allfather had arranged for him, he could become king of Asgard.

Thor didn't want to be bonded. He had never wanted it. He knew that one day he would be king and follow in Odin's footsteps, but not now. He wasn't ready to give up the life he had now. His duties to defend the Nine realms would keep him from Midgard, from Jane and the new friends he made. It would keep him from Steve and that wouldn't do. The thought of being apart from Steve was something he didn't want to dwell on.

Thor didn’t want to leave, even though he knew that sooner or later he would have to. He would have to resume the ongoing struggle to keep the Nine worlds in order after the bi-frost was destroyed. Allfather had reluctantly allowed him to come back here, but it wouldn't be...it was never going to be permanent. 

“Damn!” 

He threw his fist, aiming it directly for the wall, but he stopped himself just in time. Broken equipment could be quickly and easily replaced, a building…not so much. 

Midgard certainly had its problems. These mortals were so fragile in comparison to his own kind that it hurt he could not love Jane in the way he wished. However Steve Rogers was different, very different from all of them. Thor realised that things had become complicated now that he’d lain with him.  


Thunder boomed outside and the rain, and this time hail, began to pelt on the windows. Thor sighed. 

He was not in tune with himself, the new brewing storm was evidence enough that he was losing grip. It wasn’t as pleasant as before, the clouds were bringing down everything, synching with Thor’s confusion and matching his mood. The winds howled outside and rattled the glass in the windows. 

Was Steve just a convenience for him? Was Captain America just there for Thor’s use whenever he needed to vent? It was difficult to tell as he was puzzled by the myriad emotions bombarding him like pounding fists every time he was close to Steve. 

Was Steve just like Fandral, handy and in the right place at the right time? 

Thor closed his eyes and remembered his Asgardian friend. 

They had been teens then, just 115 and 118 years old, but very reckless and impatient. Thor and the slightly older Fandral were separated from the hunting party in the woods and as a result had nearly been trampled by a stampede of Bilgesnipe.  


Because of those creatures, Thor feel into a most foul mood, which worsened as they were stranded for several days, cut off from the city and any kind of communication. It was during this time, fuelled by a rage—and a seething hatred for the Bilgesnipe--that Thor underwent his change. It was extremely bad timing.  


There was only one way Fandral could have helped him. 

\-------

_“I can’t say that was completely unexpected.” Fandral pulled on his clothes and helped an unsteady Thor to his feet. He gripped his shoulders and patted Thor’s smooth jaw with robust affection. “Nor that I disliked it.”_

_“Nor I…but…?” Thor struggled to get himself dressed, he staggered each time he tried to put a foot in the leg of his pants. “But…”_

_“It’s not uncommon, you know this!” Fandral picked up his sword and sheathed it. “You’ve changed now, you needed help and I was here. We fought, we did the deed, you are well and I was more than pleased to assist you! Thor, it was perfectly normal to have behaved like that and besides, you did well, very well for your first time.”_

_“Is it always like that?”_

_“Not always as intense as your first, unless you have a much more emotional bond.”_

_“If you love them, you mean?”_

_Fandral sighed and cupped the younger AEsir’s face with his hand. He looked Thor intently in the eyes, bringing their faces closer so their foreheads would touch._

_“Do you have feelings for me and wish me to return them? Do you wish me to be bonded to you?”_

_Thor shook his head, laughed and shoved the other teen away. “No! You are my friend, Fandral!”_

_“Then it was what it was! You are the heir to the throne of Asgard; I am…and always shall be in your service, Thor. We don’t need be husbands or lovers, we don’t wish to be. You are a man now and I was honoured to be the one to help you.”_

_“I am honoured too, my friend. It was…most enjoyable Thank you.” Thor beamed happily._

_“Let us remember it being as such. Yes?”_

_“Aye.”_

_“And be grateful it was I who you were stranded with and not Volstagg or Hogun!”_

_Thor roared with laughter and punched his friend on the arm. He looked at the tattered remains of his shirt and at the circle of felled trees around them. The two in their entanglements appeared to have done far more damage than those wretched Bilgesnipe could ever do._

_It had been wonderful. Despite them having been so intimate, so physical, Thor felt nothing more than gratitude and pride for the other AEsir. It had been a shock when their fight had turned the way it did but Thor was pleased that he hadn’t rejected his friend._

_“So?” Fandral smirked and wrapped an arm around Thor’s bare shoulder. “Now you’re back to your normal annoying self, what are we going to do?”_

_“We go back to the palace.” Thor slapped a hand heavily on Fandral’s chest and grinned. “There we shall feast…I have quite an appetite!”_

_“I’ve always known that, Thor…but after today it shall be deemed as an understatement.”_

\--------

They had laughed about it a lot afterwards. 

Allfather had expressed his own pride that his son had come of age and there was a feast to celebrate which lasted for several long weeks. Thor remembered how proud and happy Loki had been for him as well, and during the celebration he and his brother had drank and laughed together. It was a truly happy time for them, before things went wrong. 

\-------

_“We shall have a great feast when your time comes, brother!” Thor yelled, downing his mug of ale and smashing it on the floor. “It will be glorious!”_

_Loki took a single gulp of his own ale and held in an impending burp._

_“I know it will,” he said, failing in his control and burping. “I just wish my time will hurry up!”_

_“It will come. Have patience.”_

_A wiry thin, but amused smile rose to Loki's lips._

_“Am I hearing correctly, dear brother? **You** are telling **me** to be patient?”_

_“HA! We never thought that day would come! Drink more with me, Loki!”_

\-------

Thor thought everything was going to be glorious when he was that age. He thought that his future as king of Asgard was assured. He thought that his bonding with Sif would go ahead and he would have a family of his own, but that never happened. He didn't love Sif . 

He felt no connection with Sif other than the same friendship he held for Fandral…he did not love her as he should have. Both agreed to not go ahead with the bonding because they both knew Thor was too much of a warrior. There was glory and honour to be had in battle and he found little time for love. Or rather it had little time for him. 

Love never affected him, though Thor had plenty of entanglements when the time demanded, but when he was banished to Midgard it was there where he was hit—several times—by it. Actually it was a van, but Jane Foster certainly made an impact. 

Thor didn’t realise how much of an impact Jane had on him until he had returned to Asgard. The destruction of the Bifrost prevented him from going back to Jane, it prevented him from holding her and kissing her again and it hurt so much. It was difficult to be apart from her, it was agonising, as if he had lost a part of himself. Things weren’t made any better when at the same time he had to mourn for Loki. Grief and agony for his brother and for Jane ate him up. 

When the months and weeks past, when Allfather was able to send him back to this world, Thor never got the chance to see Jane. He couldn’t risk it, not with Loki’s sudden and unexpected return. His adoptive sibling had been through what, he knew not, but it had embittered Loki to madness. Thor tried to stay focused, he had to stop Loki and the Chitauri, he had to save the world he had grown more than fond of...he needed to save Jane and see her again but instead something else ended up happening. Something he never expected. 

Thor rose from the bench and walked out of the gym. 

He tried to keep away from his room, he forced himself to avoid going back to Steve and so ended up spending an hour roaming aimlessly around Stark’s tower, stopping off to grab some food from the kitchen in the process. He ate vigorously at the snacks he had bundled up into his arms, devouring with ravenous hunger whilst he wandered through the games rooms, lounges and even the labs where Banner and Stark had various projects under way. The consummation of the earth foodstuffs wasn’t a great help, all the sugar and other additives he knew were in them, made him edgier.

It was 7.30am and there was no sign of anyone else, not even Pepper Potts, who was often around at these early times, but that could have been due to the storm. It was chaotic out there and he knew for as long as he was like this, it would continue to be so. Thor had said that his storm would stop, but then again he knew he shouldn’t have made such assurances when he was in turmoil like this. 

As he expected, Thor found himself back at his room and when he opened the door, it was in darkness and the rain was battling hard against the window. The slight illumination through the window outlined Steve’s naked form on the bed, asleep on his front with his arms and legs stretched wide, a perfect vision. Thor stood at the end of the bed, listening to those little snores Steve did and watched every miniscule movement he made, completely enraptured and fascinated…completely aroused with every part of him. 

Thor was in such a trance, he didn’t know how long he was watching the human sleep, so he was caught completely by surprise when Steve suddenly jerked awake and sat bolt upright. 

Mjölnir shot into Thor’s hand and the darkness of the room was lit up by bolts of small white silvery crackles of lightening snaking around him and the weapon. The whole room became suddenly charged and several of the light bulbs exploded. 

“Whoa!” Steve held out his hands in defence, one also guarding his eyes against the sudden brightness. “Thor! Put the hammer down! It’s just me!” 

It took Thor a couple of seconds before he gently placed Mjölnir down on the floor, realising his mistake and when he did, the brightness of the lightning simmered down to just sparks that ignited off them both. He slumped himself on the edge of the bed and chuckled before proceeding to take huge tearing bites out of the last of his food still clutched in the crook of his arm.

He couldn’t help but remember.

\------

_“Hey! That's enough!” The man looked at him and scowled. “Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here…”_

 _“I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes!” Thor snarled back, clenching his fist and glaring at man in blue. Thor looked him up and down and he wasn’t that impressed by this human hiding his features behind the mask and uniform._

_“Then prove it! Put the hammer down!”_

_“Um, yeah, no! Bad call!” The metal man shook his head. “He loves his hammer!_

_It took but one slight tap from Mjölnir and it sent metal man flying through the air and crashing back down with a loud heavy thunk. Thor didn’t care much for that annoying man; he glared at the fool in blue and gripped harder on Mjölnir’s handle._

_“You want me to put the hammer **down?** ” he bellowed. _

\------

What happened after Mjölnir struck that shield was still a daze for him. The result had thrown all three of them back and felled the trees around them. Thor couldn’t believe anything could hold up against Mjölnir, but that night, he had been more than simply knocked back by the reverberations of that impact. He had been shocked, frustrated and angry at the man who owned the shield but thank fully Thor didn’t end up killing him. 

Where they were now was much more pleasant, but confusing. Thor wanted him but he couldn’t fathom why this attraction was happening or why it was so strong. 

“Er…Thor?” He turned and saw Steve on his knees behind him, looking over his shoulder with longing and curiosity “Is that shawarma you have there?”

“Aye.”

“The shawarma Tony had left over from yesterday?” 

“Did you want some?” Thor held up the wrap to Steve’s face and saw the famished desire in his eyes and the saliva slowly drooling from his mouth. Steve wiped the back of his hand across his chin. “You are hungry?” 

“I’m starving! I could eat everything!”

Thor smiled and held the shawarma wrap closer to Steve’s mouth. 

Steve rested his hands on his shoulders and leaned forward. His mouth bit down and ripped a huge piece away. The sounds of his mastication, the salivating chews and groans of pleasure coming from Steve’s mouth made Thor watch him with his own growing hunger. He kept hold of the wrap and fed some more to Steve when he needed it. 

“You have more?” Steve asked with his mouth full, devouring the rest of the shawarma before Thor could reply. 

Thor shook his head and he was disappointed at that prospect. His hand was empty now, covered only in the sauce and small remains of the shawarma on his fingers. Steve grabbed hold of his hand and proceeded to lick it clean, taking each finger into his mouth and sucking them long and hard. Thor groaned. 

When he finished, Steve looked to be upset about the lack of food and he wrapped his arms around his torso, hugging at his stomach before slumping down onto his back with a frown. 

The sight of Steve’s glorious naked body, sprawled out like that before him, was far too tempting. He didn’t think he would be able to control himself, especially after feeling that mouth and tongue over his hand. 

“Captain Rogers…” Thor gripped tightly at the bottom of his t-shirt, trying hard to keep himself from ripping it and the rest of his clothes off of his body. “You said that you wished to talk, about what has occurred between us? We can…we can talk. I can try and explain to you what…”

There was a loud rumbling noise and it wasn’t the storm. 

Steve opened one weary eye to look at the puzzled frown on Thor’s face.

“We can talk and I want to, we need to…but right now? I could really do with some more shawarma.” he said. 

Thor grinned happily. 

“JARVIS!” his voice boomed loudly as he pulled off his t-shirt. “JARVIS!” 

_“Yes, Thor? How can I be of assistance to you and Captain Rogers this morning?”_

“We would like some fresh shawarma.” Steve said rubbing his belly as it rumbled again. “Lots!” 

“Order some for delivery from Stark’s favourite place! At once JARVIS!” Thor climbed upon the bed and crept up beside Steve, pulling him up against his body as he did so. “Please? We have a mighty appetite!” 

_“As it has already been noted sir. Of course, I shall order right away. Shall I also issue another weather warning for the city?”_

Thor saw the fiendish grin upon Steve's face.

“That might be best.”


	3. Calm Before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter, I hope you all still like it. Enjoy.
> 
> Please note that I'm not perfect and there will be mistakes, though hopefully not many. 
> 
> Cheers.

_The flight back to the helicarrier was long and uncomfortable. He could have flown back on his own, following the jet at a reasonable distance, but Thor’s mind was still reeling as to how that shield had withstood Mjölnir._

_It was silent except for the engines. The woman was piloting quite steadily in this storm, and the man with the metal suit was standing behind her, arms folded across his chest. He kept his back to the others and looked over his shoulder at Thor every so often, assessing him no doubt. Thor wasn’t interested in him; he was of no consequence or importance and so instead concentrated on the other, the one sitting opposite him, holding that shield of red, white and blue._

_“Is it annoying you, brother?” Loki whispered quietly so only Thor could hear. “A puny little human stopped you. You must be so ashamed.”_

_“Silence, Loki.” Thor ground his teeth hard and hissed back. “I will hear no more from your tongue.”_

_“It’s bad enough that the other one nearly thrashed you, but to have your beloved hammer foiled by,” Loki tutted and shook his head. “by that? A boy? A nothing? How humiliated are you?”_

_“I become more so with every word that you speak, Loki.” Thor felt the growl rise from his chest and up into his mouth. “Be quiet!”_

_Thankfully Loki did for the rest of the journey, but it was the way he sat back, crossed his legs and smiled so smugly that worried Thor._

_Yet Thor was still infuriated with that shield. Nothing could stand against Mjölnir or Thor’s will, so why had that shield done so?_

_The human sitting opposite him was looking at him as well. Stern but curious blue eyes gazed from behind that mask, youthful but old as well…or rather old for his kind. He was a warrior, a soldier, Thor could tell by his posture, he was prepared and ready to fight, which was commendable, but the tension of his smooth jaw and his tightened pursed lips showed a clear irritation._

_“Do you have a problem?” the young human asked after several minutes of the two of them staring intently at each other._

_Thor said nothing. He averted his eyes away from the man’s glare and looked to the shield resting on his lap. There wasn’t a single dent in it, no scuff or mark…the thing was perfect, glinting in the light and mocking Thor._

_“I said do you have a problem?” the man asked again, his tone a little harsher._

_“Whoa, back off there gramps!” The metal man turned round and stood himself between the two of them. “Let’s not start a fight way up here.”_

_“He’s staring at me.”_

_“Well maybe he thinks you’re cute, in a kinky kind of way, I don’t know! Just don’t provoke the guy, okay?” the metal man then turned to face Thor and smiled—though Thor didn’t think it fully genuine. “Blondie, you need to relax. We’re getting there and when your brother is locked up, things are going to be just peachy.”_

_“You are certain of this?” Thor replied, immediately disliking the name he had been called and wondering how things were going to be like fruit._

_That less than genuine smile widened._

_“Sure. Why wouldn’t it be?”_

_Somehow Thor didn’t think the man agreed with his own statement._

_While Thor had no doubt at all that his brother would cause trouble, he did have some doubts about the soldier sitting across from him._

 

\---------------------------

 

All it took was a simple roll and Steve was beneath him. His muscled and toned body, bare and hot, felt deliciously dangerous to touch. Thor traced his hands over smooth and unblemished skin, gently massaging over the bulk of his muscles, before scraping his fingertips down Steve’s spine and squeezing hard at the flesh of his buttocks. Steve jerked with every touch and before long a slight film of sweat began to cover and drip from his back. Thor licked his lips and followed one trail of sweat with a finger, all the way down to between Steve’s cheeks where he gently toyed between them.

Steve was still tender, still raw and aching, he hissed sharply and bit his bottom lip when Thor’s other hand lightly brushed across one of his nipples. Thor felt it harden as his hand ran along the defined line of Steve’s pec, he pinched it, rubbed his thumb back and forth over the nub, mimicking the motion he was doing to his ass. It took but a little slip of Thor’s finger up into him and Steve bucked hard. The gasp of pleasure and surprise made Thor smile, his quivering made him grin wider, and he couldn’t help himself.  
The insatiable drive and urge for Steve Rogers took over any common sense or reason he had and so Thor laid himself down upon him, pinned Steve’s arms above his head and latched his mouth into the crook of Steve’s neck, purposely scraping the bristles of his beard against his skin. Steve bucked harder. 

The crack of thunder shook the windows. 

Steve pushed against Thor, he said something too but the words were broken by his stammering moans. The whines and even the rumbles of Steve’s hunger resonated against Thor’s palms as they ran across his chest and instinctively he grabbed harder, sliding his hands down to Steve’s hips and dragging him roughly up onto all fours. 

He heard a laugh, a little chuckle of amusement, as if this action was expected, he also saw Steve buckle slightly, his hands and knees weren’t quite stable so Thor steadied him as best he could, easing his mouth away from his neck and snaking one hand off a hip, sliding it round to enclose around Steve’s already hardening cock. 

Putting all his weight on his knees, Thor ground himself, rubbing his hardness teasingly over Steve’s ass before bending down over his back and grazing his teeth along that perfect skin, biting and smiling as Steve heaved in his grasp. Thor lapped his tongue lavishly across his back, making his moans pitch higher in ecstasy—such delectably dirty sounds—Thor grinned and licked the drips of sweat now pouring off of the human whilst at the same time keeping his hand working a tight and steady rhythm on his cock, producing more shudders and moans from his mouth. 

A deep growling moan escaped Thor’s own, vocalising his approval of the reactions he was getting. He continued to kiss and gnaw along Steve’s back; he quickened his pumping hand feeling Steve getting closer and closer to release, noting the shakes in his body increase.

 _Nearly there…you’re nearly there._

“No! No!” 

Thor bolted away from Steve upon immediately hearing that word and he fell back onto his rear, confused and dazed. He watched Steve fall flat on his front and scramble feebly away from him and a searing burning pain ached in his chest. 

“Thor, I’m sorry…no….oh god…not again, not now.” 

The storm outside screamed. 

“I…I do not understand. You do not want me?” 

Steve was refusing him? No one had ever turned down this from him. A slight pang of self-loathing at his stupidity made his face crease up in disgust and as Thor looked over himself, he began to shake. 

So did the building. 

_“Captain Rogers? There is a slight problem of the building shaking.”_

“JARVIS…it’s okay, I’ve got this. I know what to do.”

_“As you wish, Captain.”_

Thor felt fingers, gentle in touch, glide over his bicep, then it rested against his face, a thumb stroking his beard. 

“Ssh! Thor, you have got to calm down. You’ve got to let me help you or else Tony is not going to be pleased that we’ve destroyed his tower.” 

The kiss placed upon his mouth did more than help.

\-------------

_“Thor…welcome to Earth I am Director Nick Fury. On behalf of all…”_

_Thor didn’t care for the ceremonial greetings these SHIELD people had prepared for him. The ebony man with one eye was supposed to be a big deal, but now was not the time for ceremony and pleasantries. Loki had to be secured away aboard this craft, safe and away from doing any kind of harm._

_There were humans in uniform, soldiers armed to the teeth with primitive weapons, weapons that would do absolutely nothing to Loki or Thor. How could they possibly keep Loki under guard, or anyone else safe armed with those things? They might as well have been holding sticks and stones._

_“Where do you plan on holding my brother?” Thor asked, looking round at his new surroundings. “What assurances can you give me that it is secure and that it will keep Loki secure?”_

_“You have my word that it is.”_

_“May I see this containment area for myself?”_

_The one-eyed leader appeared to accept the request. In fact any good leader would expect it, so Nick Fury nodded and began to lead Thor inside the flying fortress, but Thor didn’t move._

_“Is there a problem?” Fury asked._

_“I request that your little tin man stay with my brother until I am satisfied with his holding cell.”_

_There were a few little snickers of laughter from some of the other soldiers and the man in question stepped forward._

_“Little tin man? This suit is made up of a composite of different materials, including single crystal titanium! Did the Blondie remark hurt your feelings, Goldilocks?”_

_“Stark…” Fury’s voice warned. “Just do as he asks.”_

_“Er, not to sound childish or anything, but why me?”_

_Thor turned and faced the Stark man, stepping closer into his space, intending to be more imposing._

_“Because you, in your metal shell, are the only human being on this vessel who can even come close to stopping Loki, if he tries something.”_

_“Go me!” Stark wasn’t at all intimidated, that smug smile appeared on his face and he stuck two thumbs up. “Fine. I’ll babysit, but only because you asked so nicely.”_

_Thor eventually backed away, appreciating that gesture. He bobbed his head in gratitude and followed Director Fury inside._

_As he walked through the corridors he received looks from everyone he passed, looks that were startled, afraid, curious and suspicious as well as intrigued and excited. None of them had met an Asgardian and it was something new for them, so naturally they would be staring. He towered above most of them, making them look so small and tiny but Thor didn’t worry much about what they might be thinking of him. However one of these human’s caused him to stop._

_The man in the lab sitting behind his desk took off his glasses and smiled politely at Thor. He even waved._

_Looks were deceiving and now as the seemingly innocent and benign dark haired man smiled at him, Thor felt something odd tingle in the back of his head, the same tingle that warned him of danger. Behind those eyes, Thor could sense a brewing malice; on the brink of boiling over the edge…it was being held back…barely._

_He smiled back and carried on following Fury. He would need to be weary of that man._

_The containment they had set up for Loki was more than adequate, Thor checked it over numerous times, feeling his hands over the transparent casing and inspecting the controls as Fury explained how it all worked._

_“He cannot get through this?” Thor asked._

_“Hell no. You couldn’t get through this.”_

_The snort of laughter wasn’t intentional, but the thought of something like this stopping him was ridiculous. So was the thought that a single lone human armed with nothing but a round piece of metal could stop him, but it had happened and it annoyed him greatly._

_“Nothing can stand against Mjölnir.” He said, trying to convince himself rather than Fury. “This cage would not hold me yet you are fortunate that Loki no longer possesses his staff or any such weapon of renown and power. Bring him here, I’m satisfied he will be contained.”_

_“Good. I’m glad you’re pleased.” There was a slight touch of insincerity in the dark man’s voice, Darcy had called it sarcasm. Thor supposed it was deserved for his arrogant comment._

_He had learnt a lot from his exile here on Earth, he had learnt humility most of all, yet why was he behaving like this?_

_Fury held a hand out towards the exit._

_“Would you like to observe him being brought in here or do you wish to wait with Captain Rogers and the others?”_

_Thor looked to one of the soldiers standing on guard and pointed a finger at him._

_“That is Captain Rogers?”_

_Fury smiled and shook his head._

_“No. Captain Rogers is on the bridge. You’ve met him already, he’s the guy who wears the blue uniform…has the round shield?”_

_Thor’s jaw tightened. His fist clenched so tightly, his nails broke through his skin._

_He knew why he was behaving like he was._

_“I will have words with this Captain Rogers.”_

 

\--------------------

 

He couldn’t say a word. 

The kiss was soft, tender and strangely comforting. It didn’t—couldn’t—put an end to the insanity his body was raging, but it at least put an end to the storm, for a moment. He opened his eyes when the kiss broke, he saw glimmers of sun trying to pierce through the black clouds outside the window and once again there was the charged static clinging in the air, which was ready to ignite at any moment. 

This was the calm before…before he lost control again. 

Thor rubbed the sweat from his face, his fingers lingered over his lips and he tasted the remnants of shawarma and Steve on his tongue. The crackle of power skittered over Thor’s skin, it wanted to be released, he needed it to or this craving wouldn’t stop, yet that kiss…different from the first they had shared and the others…had made him stop. 

Thor looked to Steve and saw for the first time how tired he really was as he lay on his back, dragging the wet soaked sheets over his lap, panting for breath. Thor had to remember that he needed rest…he needed time to recover. Steve was no Asgardian and couldn’t keep going, but Thor couldn’t stay still. A selfish desire to keep active, to keep playing and give into his body’s demands wasn’t about to let Steve Rogers fall asleep now. 

“Do you regret this?” Steve’s wearied voice spoke and Thor realised he had been staring again. 

“Do you, Steve Rogers?” 

“Do I?” He laughed, which only made him take more deep breaths. He seemed to zone out for a moment, his head lolled from side to side, his hands lightly traced over his chest and down between his legs. He fondled himself, hissing at the pleasured discomfort he was no doubt feeling and then looked up at Thor through sleepy eyes. “You sound like you’re proposing marriage!”

“That is not what I meant. Marriage...as you put it...is not possible. The bonds are not compatible between us, the priests wouldn't be able to accomplish it.”

“I know what you meant and no…” Steve slapped a wearied hand against Thor’s leg. “I don’t regret any of this.” 

There was none. Thor could see, in those tired wearied blue eyes, there wasn’t a single glimmer of regret in them; confusion for sure and anxiety certainly, but no regret. The small goofy smile was still there, that lovely smile that he had done the first day they’d met.

 

_“Monkeys? I do not understand.”_

_“I do! I understood that reference!”_

 

There was a loud growling noise and Thor bolted up right suddenly. 

“Hey! It’s okay!” said Steve, holding a hand up in a gesture to ease him. “That was just my stomach. I need food, Thor. Really. I need food now.”

The deep exhale of breath made Thor feel a lot better. 

“Ah. Yes, of course. How foolish of me!” Thor shook his head to clear it. “But do not fret, food is on its way. Perhaps I should have gone, I would have been much quicker.”

“Erm…” Steve turned away and grabbed at the little time device that had fallen to the floor. “Yeah, we only asked JARVIS ten minutes ago. It won’t be here yet. We have to wait.” 

Thor wasn’t sure if either of them could do that. Lying still, not touching Steve, not doing something to end this urge wasn’t what he wanted or could even do. Yet Steve was already drifting off to sleep. 

If there was no way they were going to carry on with their play, then Thor had to do something. Clambering to his knees, he scooped Steve up into his arms, jarring him awake. He lifted him up off the bed and sat him down in the chair close by. 

Steve yawned. 

“Er…Thor? What…what are you doing?” 

“Put on some clothing. I am taking you down to the kitchen. You need food.” 

“Couldn’t you go and fetch it?” he yawned again.

“I could, aye, but if you are there you can chose what you would prefer and consume it immediately.”

Thor grabbed the pants he had thrown on the floor previously and once he had slipped them on, he impatiently paced as Steve slowly pulled on some of his own. 

“Is there any food in the kitchen after you raided it?”

Ah. 

Thor stopped pacing and tried to think what he actually left. It wasn’t hopeful. 

“Not really, but I’m sure there is something we can salvage for your immediate needs.”

“Great!” Steve reached out for a t-shirt but Thor grabbed his hand and prevented him from putting it on by pulling him up from the chair. “Argh! Thor, stop! Painful…walking…hurts!” 

“I am so sorry, Steve! I shall carry you!” Thor bent down to throw Steve over his shoulder, but the human shook his head. 

“No! No thank you! I can walk…but slowly! Yeah?” 

The thunder rumbled. 

Thor could manage it. 

Just. 

\----------

 

_Thor was taken to the bridge, which was very dull and bland with a lot of grey, and he saw the many little humans, dressed in uniforms, going about their business at computer terminals, flying the ship and seeming all very official and professional—except one man who appeared to be playing a game of some kind—but upon Thor’s entrance, the majority of them stopped. Even the hum and buzz of conversation filtered down to silence so they could get a glimpse of him._

_Thor gave the whole bridge staff a brief look, a small little smile, before turning to the triangular smoked glass table nearby. The soldier who had led him here took him directly to this table, at which sat one woman, the woman who had piloted them back from the fight. The red head rose graciously from her chair and held out her hand._

_“I’m Agent Natasha Romanov. Honoured to meet your acquaintance.”_

_Thor remembered the human custom of shaking hands and gently took the woman’s hand in his and carried out said custom. Agent Romanov was a striking woman indeed, there was a remarkable strength within her, but not the warrior kind, something far more sinister. Those lush eyes had seen death, the hand he held had caused death…Thor felt the red._

_He politely responded, bowing graciously. The bow made Romanov smile._

_“Stark and Doctor Banner will be with us shortly.” She said turning away and gesturing her hand towards another who had just walked onto the bridge. “This is Captain Steven Rogers…”_

_“You!”_

_Thor saw him._

_The blue mask no longer hid his face and features and Thor was stunned by his youth. He was stunned by the purity and goodness emanating from this human, mainly because he hadn’t seen it before…he was such a fool to have missed it. There were no stern or harsh feelings coming from him, no resentment or hostilities._

_Yes, this Captain Rogers had seen great evil…he had witnessed death just as the others had, but there was no malice or red coming from him. The man held out his hand and when Thor took hold of it, he felt a strength far beyond the capabilities of humans…who was he?_

_“Hi.” Rogers said, smiling sincerely and humbly at Thor. “I’m sorry about the misunderstanding on the jet…I guess we were all reeling a little from that scrap. So…you’re Thor…I’ve heard a lot…well, a little bit about you.”_

_“What manner of god or being are you?” Thor asked, keeping a firm grip on Steve’s hand and gently prodding at him with his other. The question caught Rogers off guard and Romanov as well._

_“I’m sorry?”_

_Thor grabbed hold of Steve’s shoulder and squeezed it, he whacked it a couple of times and then patted at his smooth jaw._

_“What manner of being are you, Captain Rogers? You differ from the others, you have a great power in your veins! Did you construct that weapon of yours? I will have you tell me, because never has any weapon or foe stood against Mjölnir.”_

_“Who what, now?”_

_“Mjölnir…my hammer.”_

_“Your hammer has a name?”_

_“Does not your shield?”_

_“Uh….no. Not really. It’s just my shield.”_

_Well that wasn’t right._

_Thor grimaced with disapproval at that comment and circled Steve, scrutinising him as he continued his inspection. Thor pulled at some of the blonde strands of his hair; he poked at his face and even rubbed at the material of his uniform. Well, he certainly looked human._

_Captain Rogers was clearly uncomfortable with Thor’s prodding and poking, so he backed off, giving Thor a slight push._

_“Could you not do that?” There was sternness in his voice, an authoritive tone that Thor really couldn’t ignore._

_Thor sighed. He had unintentionally made the humans uncomfortable again with his behaviour. He moved away from Rogers, to the far side of the table, but he never took his eyes off of him._

_“A mighty piece such as that shield is worthy of one and should have a name! What is its construct? What is yours? Are you certain you are human?”_

_“He’s human all right.” said Romanov. “Just like the rest of us.”_

_“Hey guys…sorry I’m late.”_

_The dark haired man who Thor had seen in the lab walked in, smiling as he polished his glasses on his shirt._

_No. Not like them. Not at all._

 

\-------------------------------

 

“What’s going on?” 

Bruce didn’t really need a response. As he edged around Clint and Natasha, he saw pretty much what they were staring at. Their half-naked—thankfully the top half—teammates had completely gutted the kitchen of every feasible food item and laid it out on the table. 

The various bite marks and scratches on both men didn’t really leave much for the imagination and while it fascinated the only female in the room, for Bruce it was the array of food which was questionable, as everything there was what no one else really wanted to touch. 

Steve downed what looked like grease and fat from a glass and handed it to Thor, who took one swig and screwed up his face in disgust. 

“This is _VILE!_ How could you drink it?” He threw the glass down on to the ground, smashing it to bits. 

“I don’t know but it helped!” Steve said, laughing as he wiped traces of fat from his mouth before consuming vile processed cheeses slices and tipping the powder remains from the cereal boxes into his mouth. “I’m so hungry!” 

“I shall wait for the shawarma. It tastes much better.” 

“Amen to that.” Tony answered. 

Thor turned and saw them all standing by the door, his face beamed brightly and Bruce noticed so too did the sun outside. 

“My friends! Join us!”

They did. They approached the table and sat down on the chairs, watching curiously as Steve continued to eat. Bruce however, immediately scurried to grab the dust pan to sweep up the shards of glass. Thor and Rogers were both bare footed and it wouldn’t do to have them to be cut. 

Bruce knew what Erskine’s serum did to Rogers, but when he finished sweeping up and actually saw him consume what would normally be inedible was fascinating and a bit repulsive at the same time. 

“Is that Pepper’s potato salad? The one that’s been in the refrigerator for several days now?” asked Natasha, as Steve whipped up a bowl from the table and started spooning large quantities of it into his mouth. Steve nodded. “That’s gross.”

“It is…very.” Steve replied, choking back a gag reflex as he swallowed. “But it’s food! I need this! It stops the pain.”

“And it will most likely give you food poisoning instead.” 

“I can’t believe you drank that fat.” Clint said, grimacing.

No one else did either. 

“Sex brings on the munchies, you know it does.” Tony replied. “For Steve even more so, high metabolism and all that. So…you two…you all pretty spent then? Need some fuel to get you going again? That storm lasted eleven hours and shook this building that's pretty impressive stuff fellas. ” 

Bruce saw Steve blush. Their leader’s face went bright red at Tony’s comments and he immersed himself more in the food—cold baked beans from a tin and a blackened banana—avoiding eye contact with any of them. Bruce didn’t exactly blame him. Instead all heads turned to Thor when it was clear that the Captain wasn’t going to say-or be able to say—anything.

Thor had picked up a small plastic pot and was shaking it against his ear, making the contents rattle inside. He didn’t realise until a few seconds later that they were all looking at him and—if it was ever possible—his smile widened. He slicked back his hair with one hand and put the plastic pot down. 

“I will not destroy this building Tony Stark. Of that I can assure you.” 

“I feel better all ready.” said Stark. “But the weather…”

Thor bowed his head. 

“Apologies. When my kind get like this it can take days before we finish.” 

“Days?” gasped Romanov. 

“Perhaps longer.” 

_“Longer? You can go for longer?”_

Steve bolted up from the chair and rushed back to the fridge. Bruce heard him frantically rummage around inside it, even though it was empty.

“It is perfectly normal.” Thor opened the top off the plastic pot and sniffed at the contents. “We have the stamina, our bodies are designed that way.” 

“Oh…that’s nice.” said Bruce, taking off his glasses and cleaning them on his shirt, even though they didn’t need cleaning. “That’s…that’s really…”

“I am a little off balance with my powers as a result.”

“Really? No kidding?” Banner chewed on one of the ends of his glasses. 

“I am not kidding. I am most serious.”

He loved how Thor didn’t always get sarcasm. 

“Of course not,” Bruce placed his glasses back on his face. “Thor, I’d be interested to know more about Asgardian physiology sometime.”

“I’d say Steve is already finding out plenty, Doc.” said Stark.

Poor Rogers nearly collapsed to the floor at such a comment. 

Banner smirked, yet he did feel for the Captain. It was embarrassing to have such things mentioned in front of friends, especially when you weren’t from this time. Steve wasn’t quite sure of what was going on, he was unsure, despite the new fun he was having with Thor…and he was having fun, immensely. Bruce could tell. 

“Well I think it’s great!” Stark said winking at Steve. “Honestly, you two are adorable and so sweet that I’m welling up here…can you tell?”

“You may joke of this Stark,” Thor rose from the chair and walked over to the window overlooking the city. The sun was shining, but just on the horizon, being kept at bay, was a mass of black. “If you are concerned that what we are doing will damage the team and your tower, it will not. You invited us all to stay here when I came back. We have lived in this place for over a month and because we are a team! I will not do anything to disrupt this. If you’d like, the Captain and I can vacate somewhere else until I am back to myself again?”

Seeing him standing there, Bruce marveled at how regal, majestic and god like Thor actually was, despite his current condition. He appeared to be so calm, he was comfortable in his situation, unfettered by everyone knowing what he and Steve had become and he was utterly unperturbed by the fact that the pants he was wearing were slipping and barely hanging onto his hips. 

If Bruce hadn’t known that Thor was the cause of such a drastic change in the weather, he wouldn’t have thought there was anything wrong. 

While Bruce had managed to keep a good handle on…the other guy…he couldn’t help but feel envious of the AEsir and how he was managing to keep calm. 

“Well, we can vacate after we have eaten more of that shawarma delicacy, when it gets here!” Thor rose the plastic container high above his head in cheer and there was the boyish grin again. “Shawarma is indeed food fit for warriors! Just like this…? This pot noodle!” 

Thor tilted his head back and tipped some of the contents of the plastic cup into his wide open mouth. Bruce grimaced, he even saw Steve shake his head in disgust. 

There was silence for a moment as everyone looked to the demi-god who had just eaten a dried pot noodle straight, without any water. Then Banner and everyone else jumped back as Thor spat the mulchy food stuff from his mouth in disgust. 

“You people actually eat this foulness?” he roared, still spitting in an attempt to get rid of the taste from his mouth “You call this substance food? You allow your people to be poisoned by this filth?” 

“Hey…easy there, big fella. It’s just a bad snack food. That’s all.” Stark said. “Not quite sure how it came to be here though. I’ll have to look into it and possibly fire the person responsible.”

“Really, Stark?” Natasha scowled. 

“Okay I was kidding…mostly.” 

Thor was still spitting and Bruce looked around for something to wipe up the mess, or at least have the man spit into instead of on the floor. It was Natasha who gave the man a glass of water, but that didn’t seem to do the trick, Thor really wasn’t happy. 

“I think I am going vomit.” 

“Let’s get you out of here then.” Steve walked over to him and when he placed his hand at the base of Thor’s spine, there was an immediate reaction. Bruce also thought he heard a growl that wasn’t anything to do with Steve’s stomach. 

That boyish smile turned extremely wicked and it was only when the two of them were out of the room, that a dirty laugh boomed loudly. 

“He drank…the fat.” Clint’s grimace was still there, his eyes glaring at the fat smeared floor. “That…is sick.” 

Clearly the Hawk had other issues on his mind.


	4. Gale Force

_Odin Allfather beckoned his eldest to sit beside him. The golden haired youth ran across the room, his feet clomping heavily on the polished floor before he leapt upon the ledge. Thor let out a loud cry of cheer and flipped his legs over the side. Once he finally settled and calmed down, both father and son sat looking out over the city and at the long stretch of the rainbow bridge and the cascading oceans falling into the abyss of space._

_Odin placed a hand on Thor’s shoulder and smiled softly._

_This was it._

_“My son… there will come a day when everything will change.” Thor’s eyes widened in worry and Odin squeezed his shoulder to reassure him. “Don’t worry Thor, it will be glorious.”_

_“What is this day, father?” he asked, now hopeful and joyous._

_“As you get older your body will change physically in preparation for this day. It is the day you will become a man.”_

_Those blue eyes widened and that youthful face beamed with happiness._

_“Really? I cannot wait!”_

_“You must, my son! It will not be easy though, it will be sudden and intense, you will be bombarded by emotions that you cannot control and you’ll have urges that you will want to act upon. It’s a phase, a transition where you finally reach adulthood.”_

_“When will this happen for me?” Thor asked, giddily. “Will it be soon?”_

_“Not yet, Thor. You are but only 80 years old. This change often occurs when you have past your first century, but it depends on the individual.”_

_“So… what will happen, father? Will it be the day I finally wield Mjölnir?”_

_“Not necessarily. You may prove yourself worthy of that gift before your change, as I’m sure you will.” Odin squeezed his son’s shoulder again. “This is biological; the physiological changes inside you will control you to do…”_

_“Is this about sex?” Thor blurted it out so loudly it echoed around the room. Odin peered over his shoulder and noticed the guards at the door shifting slightly on their feet; one even looked up at the ceiling, pretending that something else had gained his attention. “This is about sex isn’t it?!”_

_Odin nodded and sighed. Thor would know about that. Children were aware of sex and knew quite well enough as to what it was, but they were never interested in it, at least not until the change. The disgusted look on Thor’s face plainly showed what he thought about it._

_“Yes. It is about sex, but it’s not just about that. The change will determine what kind of a person you will be; it will test your character more than anything. You must remember that the transition is not something that just happens and that is the end of it. Our kind are long lived compared to others and our physical strength greater than most, so too are our biological drives. There are none in the nine realms who go through what we do, or endure the longevity of it.”_

_“Longevity?”_

_“The change lasts a long time, as can your sexual urges and encounters you experience in your life from then on, but it will never be as strong or intense, unless you are bonded to a partner, bonded physically and mentally… to a wife.”_

_“Or a husband?”_

_Odin bobbed his head._

_“In some cases, but not yours. A man for you would not be fitting… he could make you too volatile. I have already betrothed you to someone.”_

_Thor scrunched up his face again and shifted away from Odin. “You have? Who?”_

_“The Lady Sif. She is a sweet girl and comes from a loyal and worthy family. She will make you a fine wife and be a magnificent mother to your children.”_

_“Really? Sif?” The young boy didn’t like the sound of that, but then the company of girls wasn’t what he cared much about. Sometimes Thor’s interest in fighting and sparring worried Odin, he feared that it would be all he ever would know. “But…”_

_“She is worthy of you, Thor. She is a good match and it has been arranged. When the time comes you shall be bonded and you will spend the rest of your lives together, as King and Queen of Asgard after I am gone.”_

_Thor shook his head and turned back into the room. He flipped his legs over the side and slid off the marble ledge and onto his feet. Odin knew what he was going to say.  
“I do not wish to have a wife or a husband! I don’t want to have sex either! I want to fight our enemies! I want to defend Asgard from them who would do us harm and gain honour in battle!” _

_“You may feel that way now, but rest assured you will not think so when it happens. I am telling you about this, Thor, so you are prepared for what is to come. Every Asgardian goes through this phase and it is a glorious and momentous stage in our lives, it is celebrated just as much as the day of our birth and our naming. It is more honourable than any deed done in battle.”_

_“It is?” Thor scratched his head in confusion. “I don’t see how, father.”_

_“We have peace, Thor. That is far more worthy than battle or war and the transition you’ll go through is so much more, it will help you define yourself as a man.”_

_“Then tell me more, father. If this is something I must prepare for then I will be prepared!”_

_Odin was more than pleased. He patted his eldest on the back of his head and stroked at his soft blonde hair with pride._

_“But wait father! We must get Loki, he should hear about this as well!”_

_“No!” Odin watched the frown crease his first born’s face. “I mean to say, not now. This is a matter I would like to discuss one to one. I shall give Loki the same talk, don’t you worry.”_

_“I understand.”_

_As Odin Allfather continued with his talk, he tried not to think upon Loki Laufreyson, on the adopted boy who would not go through the same as his ‘brother’. Instead, he hoped that Thor’s overabundant recklessness and arrogance would be tempered by his change and by the daughter of his best friend. He hoped that he hadn’t made the wrong decision._

\--------------

Happy was not happy.

He was used to running errands for Tony Stark, he was used to having strange and bizarre requests at all times of the day and Happy didn’t mind doing the errands because he loved his job. He was devoted to his friend Tony Stark. Happy would be a washed out no body if it wasn’t for him. Happy was well paid for doing what he did and Tony and Pepper felt like family to him; there was nothing he wouldn’t do for either of them. He’d even help out the other Avengers if they needed, because they were a part of Tony’s team now.   
The others never asked for as much as Tony Stark did, in fact they respected his bond with Stark and his position and asked very little of him and when they did, they didn’t wake him up at insane o’clock either. However now was a different matter. 

The storm had been going on for hours, it had been pleasant mostly until the time he was asked to go and get a delivery of shawarma for Thor. 

It tipped down. The umbrella was useless and so running back to and from the car got him completely and utterly drenched. 

Then there was the order at the shawarma place. It was a very large order but Happy didn’t find it odd because it was Thor who had ordered it, the guy had an appetite of two football teams, so it figured. The staff at the restaurant had made a big issue of it—it was too much at short notice—they argued and Happy got a splitting headache because of it. 

The order got done in the end and it took a couple of trips to get everything back to the car. 

Happy was a little pissed off by the time he got back to the tower. The rain had paused briefly and there were some moments of sunshine, but of course when it came to him getting out of the car and into the open, the black clouds had loomed over head and decided to upend themselves on top of him. 

What was even worse was the fact that whilst he got absolutely drenched, the bags filled with food, somehow managed to stay reasonably dry. 

“Shit.” Happy trudged along the corridors to the elevator, leaving wet foot prints behind him along with drips of rain dripping from his coat. “Shit, shit…fucking shit!” 

_“I have informed Miss Potts of your arrival, Mr Hogan.”_ JARVIS’ pleasant voice filled the elevator. _“And of your condition. She wants me to let you know that a bath is being prepared for you and some dry clothes have been laid out in one of the guest suits. She will not want you catching a cold, Mr Hogan, sir.”_

That was so sweet of her. That brought a smile to Happy’s face, but only for a moment. He was shivering by the time he got to Thor’s suite and the sound of boisterous laughter from within didn’t improve his mood. 

His hand rose to knock upon the door, but he didn’t need to as the door was flung open quite suddenly. 

Happy got the shock of his life. 

“Ah! Glad tidings! You bring food, excellent!” Thor snatched the bags off of Happy, picking out a few individual wraps for the man and handing it to him. “Thank you! This great deed will not be forgotten!” 

Unfortunately for Happy, neither would the sight of the naked god with a full and very well endowed erection. 

The door slammed shut and Happy was left standing like a drowned rat in the middle of the corridor. 

“Shit.”

\------------ 

Thor didn’t eat as much as he thought he would. The delicious and still warm chicken wraps went down an absolute treat, as they always did, but it was Steve eating which made him buzz. 

Thor was entranced and utterly mesmerised by the way the man scoffed down a number of shawarma. Thor couldn’t take his eyes off of his mouth, he was fascinated by the way Steve chewed and licked his lips; he was captivated by the polite burps Steve did and was amused at the pleasant curses Steve uttered when something spilled into his lap. Any ounce of calm any tiny bit of restraint that Thor had left was greatly waning. 

The foul food stuffs that he had consumed in the kitchen before had made him forget momentarily about his urges and when he had seen that sun shine, Thor had felt normal for a second. A few deep inhalations and it felt like there was no need to act upon those urges until Steve’s hand had touched against his back. 

All it took was the warmth of a palm against his skin, to break that calm. Thor had barely made it back to the privacy of his room before he had Steve up against the wall, and was kissing him with all his might. The pants Steve had been wearing were ripped off in a blink of an eye, the torn shreds discarded on the floor, and soon both of them were scrambling at each other, furiously and hungrily. Then Thor had started laughing. 

He couldn’t help it. 

He guffawed right into Steve’s mouth and had received a hefty shove and a punch in his stomach for doing so. Thor vaguely recalled stumbling back, light headed from the kiss, but laughing boisterously as he turned drunkenly in a circle before crashing against the wall, the very same wall which now had large chunks dropping away onto the floor. 

At the exact same time Thor had started laughing, things outside had gone a little haywire. The weather seriously didn’t know what to do. The sun was shining even though the rain was falling heavily and dense black clouds tried to block out the light, but every second or so one type changed to the other, not easing up, only intensifying more. Thor thought that the sky would explode from the sheer amount of charge it had building up and by how much power he was channelling to it through Mjölnir. He could feel it all and he felt so strong and amazing it was raging in him, it was crackling over his body charging him and being with Steve made the power much more intense. 

Such a connection to the storm and to Steve elated him, it made him giddy and high, he was beyond aroused and so as Thor had lain flat on his back on the bed, he laughed triumphantly and sparks of electricity, of crackling lightening shot from the tips of his fingers and were absorbed by Mjölnir lying against the window. 

It was then, when he was laughing so much that Happy had turned up with the food. 

“Did you have to do that?” Steve crumpled up the last grease proof wrapping, placed it inside the box and put that gently inside the bag it came in. Thor didn’t really hear him, as he grinned and stared at Steve tidying up the other remains on the bed, still chewing on his last mouthful. 

The food hadn’t dampened the energy practically seeping from the Asgardian’s pores, and even as Mjölnir absorbed its owner’s excess power, it seemed that Steve had been given some too. Thor rolled on to his front and again watched the human. He was so vibrant and alert as he now got up from the bed and walked back and forth in the room, he had regained a lot of the energy that had been sapped from him during their hours locked together. 

Though quite how Steve was able to endure Thor, neither of them could explain. Thor hadn’t thought about it but after that first time, he couldn’t believe it had happened. Humans were far too fragile, it was why he left Jane but now Thor realised that Rogers was the only one who could withstand him. Such a thought elated him again, that buzzing high made him grin and he continued to watch Rogers. 

Steve was majestic in his bare form and Thor loved it when he forgot his shyness and did what came so naturally. Steve had been more than a little shy about his body at first, as if such a fine built vessel was something to be ashamed about, but now he didn’t seem to care about strolling around the room on full display. 

It seemed that all humans had this peculiar shyness about nudity, Thor didn’t understand it. 

“My apologies for laughing, Steve! I cannot help myself when I’m like this. The laughter was merely a physical response to all this power emanating around us. It is a shame you cannot feel it as I do.”

Steve paused for a moment and looked to Thor, smiling softly. 

“I can feel something. It’s hard to miss actually and I’m pretty sure everyone else in the city knows that something is different.” Steve sat down next to Thor, reached out a hand and took up Thor’s own, instantly feeling the jolts of numerous electrical sparks shocking his skin. His recoil made Thor chuckle again. “You’re…you’re another race entirely, Thor! You’re making a storm out there and touching you is like touching a live wire! It’s sending all my senses into overdrive! This is so confusing for me, it’s bizarre and yet so… amazing at the same time! I don’t know what to even call what it is!” 

“Fun?” 

Steve laughed and chased with his finger, a single tiny tendril of electricity as it snaked down Thor’s back. It tickled and Thor grinned and giggled almost childishly, arching his back and body against Steve’s hand to encourage more contact. 

“Fun… that’s an understatement, but I need to have a clear mind about what this is we’re are, who you are! I need to know what we’re doing and what this means.”

“We’re having sex. It is fun and enjoyable. It makes us feel good. Do you… do you feel good?”

Steve laughed and got up from the bed to continue to pick up Thor’s discarded shawarma wrappers. Thor was a little disappointed that he didn’t carry on touching him but watched him tidy up just the same. It was only when Steve paused in the middle of his tidying and his eyes fixated on Mjölnir still glowing and surging with power by the wall, that Thor became concerned. He was lost for a moment and Thor noted how he was tempted to reach out and pick it up—or at least try to. Thor tensed with worry about Steve touching Mjölnir and he quickly scrambled to get up, but stopped half way when Steve turned round to him. 

“Did you have to answer the door like that?” 

“I’m…I’m sorry?” Thor didn’t quite understand where that had come from. He had expected an answer not another question and one unrelated at that. 

Steve sighed heavily and gestured towards the door. 

“Did you have to fling open that door and display yourself to Happy like you did? I mean the poor guy has to put up with Tony and his insanity on a daily basis, and you just open the door to him naked and all…pointing up?” 

Thor smothered his mouth with his hand as Steve cringed and pulled a disgusted face at the words he had used. 

“Do you think he found me repulsive?” Thor laughed jovially as he watched with lurid desire at Steve who continued to fuss over the state of the room. 

“Well…no…I don’t know! No! You’ve got the body of…well a lot of men in this world would kill to have your, our….” Steve laughed, realising how ridiculous he was acting. “That’s not the point! I was asking as to how you can be as blatant as you are! Do you often go parading yourself naked to other people?” 

“Nudity is never an issue to me, Steve. So you don’t think Happy was disgusted with my appearance?”

“No. It’s more likely that Happy was shocked at seeing you naked.”

“Ah! It is like the shower incident on the hellicarrier!” Thor beamed in understanding. 

“What?” 

“After the battle with the Chitarui, when we got back from the palace of the shawarma, I went to have a shower and Natasha was there! She did not object to my being naked.” 

“Thor, there were other women there! They objected!”

“Yes, I know, but I didn't understand why they did. Now I know why. They were just shocked at seeing me naked!” 

“You were in the women’s showers, Thor.” Steve's tone of voice suggested that he had gotten something wrong.

“So they were not shocked at seeing me fully?” 

Steve stammered a little bit. 

“I think they were more upset about you seeing _them_ naked.”

“Then I am vexed as to why they objected! They had figures of goddesses!”

“Thor, you’ve missed the point, again! You weren't supposed to be in there, it was the women's showers!”

“Why do you have separate facilities for the sexes? It is far more pleasant and relaxing to…”

“It’s a Midgardian thing… can we leave it at that?” 

“Of course. So was that...?” 

“No.”

“What was the point you wished me to get?"

Steve opened his mouth, but no sound came out. 

Thor slipped from the bed and walked over to Steve to cup his face with his hand. The other stroked through Steve’s damp hair and down his back, teasing with the tips of his nails at Steve’s skin. He did this several times, purposely causing the human to tremble more.

“I… I don’t… there was a point?” Steve murmured.

“Only that you are glorious too.” Thor leaned in and brushed a single kiss to Steve’s mouth, teasing at his bottom lip with a slight nick from his teeth. “I’m glad that when I was banished to the men’s only facilities, it was you who was there. You are magnificent to behold, Captain Rogers and I feel deeply honoured that you allowed this to happen.” 

Before Steve could say anything, Thor kissed him fully. Thor felt Steve tense against him, as he was no doubt shocked at the tenderness and affection of the kiss, but he relaxed into it and wrapped his arms around Thor’s back. The kiss continued, slow, sensual as their tongues dug deep and toyed together. Steve gasped and pulled away, needing to breathe in some air as his hands slipped down, lingering over Thor’s chest. He felt the impossible pounding of Thor’s heart, it was faster than a human’s rate, it was racing so much and as Steve kept his hand resting on the muscle, he started to worry.

This shouldn't be normal, not even for one of his kind, should it?

“Thor…” 

Thor kissed him again to silence his worries. With a tight grip on the back of Steve’s neck and one on his back, Thor trailed his mouth along Steve’s jaw, nipping down across his neck, purposely brushing and scraping his beard over Steve’s skin and making him quiver. 

“Will you permit me to have you again? Or do you wish to talk?” He moaned pleadingly against Steve’s neck, palming his hands on each of his shoulder blades and pulling him tighter against his own body. The reply he got was a kiss so hard, Thor was caught off guard, he staggered back and his hands dropped to rest on Steve’s rear. 

When he clawed his nails into the flesh, when Steve bucked up against him, grabbing his hands in his hair, another rather large static shock shot between them and their both legs buckled beneath them. Thor roared back in elation, grinning and smiling at the challenge and continued the kiss. 

They staggered about the room, unrelenting with their groping hands over each other’s bodies. They became starved and frantic and they never stopped for air as the kiss and dominance was far more important. Eventually Thor got the upper hand and was able to shove Steve up against the wall before they fell or stumbled. More of its plaster came away, joining the rubble on the floor, but they didn’t notice or care about it.

Thor pinned Steve against the wall and slipped one of his hands round over Steve’s hip, tracing the pads of his fingers lightly against his skin, making his body spasm. Another shot of electricity sparked over the two of them and Thor instantly took a hold of Steve’s cock. The grip was quite hard at first, his squeezing making Steve grimace with pain, but then Thor loosened his hold and began to massage it softly in his fist, stroking and squeezing gently, enticing Steve to moan in his mouth. 

Such a delectable sound made Thor smirk and the surge of laughter threatened to break them apart, but Steve tightened his hold on Thor, pulling him harder into the kiss and pushing back with equal vigour. Thor felt Steve’s fingers wrap around his cock and for a while it was a struggle between the two, who could pleasure the other more with their hands pumping and caressing each other. The kiss became harder, more desperate, their grasping hands squeezed that little bit harder as well and then finally Thor shoved Steve against the wall, again and again. 

He broke the kiss apart and leaning back he saw that dazed happy and goofy look upon Steve’s face. His eyes were drooping closed, his mouth hanging open moaning as Thor continued to tend to his erection, producing more and heavier breaths and groans of pleasure with each motion. Steve was barely able to stay on his feet, he wobbled. He closed his eyes and his hands dropped away only to grab another hold on Thor’s broad shoulders. 

Thor grinned.

This time he was going to do something for Steve. He wasn’t going to be selfish any more. The storm and Mjölnir seemed to like that idea and boomed a huge thunderous response when Thor broke away, slipped down to his knees and took Steve into his mouth. 

“Oh my god!”

Thor grinned. 

Yeah, he was. 

\-----------

_“Now reaching gale force winds, sir.”_

Stark didn’t need JARVIS to tell him that. He could hear and see the winds battling against the windows, he could see the city and what it was going through as thunder and lightning lit up the skies. The Avengers were supposed to be keeping the city safe, not subjecting them to this just because they were feeling horny! 

“Right! That’s it!” Stark downed the remainder of his drink and turned away from the balcony, heading straight for the elevator. He grabbed his shirt from the back of the sofa but a hand grabbed him. 

“What are you going to do, Tony?” asked Pepper taking the now empty glass from his other hand. Stark sighed, the alcohol had taken affect hours ago, but it didn’t do what he had hoped. 

“I’m going to get them to stop!” Stark exclaimed “Seriously how much can Rogers take keeping up with that guy?”

“How do you intend to stop them?” 

Ah. 

Stark didn’t think of that. Unless there was actual physical intervention, he doubted that he could say or do anything. He could ask Banner to suit up and pull the two of them apart… but then he thought best not as the Hulk would likely take that literally and they didn’t really want that. Tony didn’t actually know how the Hulk would handle seeing the two of them having sex…he made a mental note to see how that would turn out…on a purely scientific basis, of course. 

“JARVIS?” Tony hopefully addressed the AI. 

_“As I have mentioned before, sir, all attempts to get through to the couple have fallen on deaf ears. Short of a fire or major catastrophe, nothing will succeed.”_

A couple. Those two were that now, not that Stark objected. It was nice for Steve to have someone and get his end away, but this storm was seriously too much. 

“Tony? What are you thinking?” 

Stark turned back to Pepper and then slowly sank down to his knees, holding both her hands. 

“We’ll go! You and me! We’ll get on a plane and fly to somewhere exotic, somewhere hot and not near the horny God of Thunder and his Super-serum soldier!” 

Pepper’s face said it all. 

_In this storm?_

She was right, of course, but he wasn’t going to admit that. 

“It’ll be fun!” 

“It will be dangerous.”

“It’s the best kind!” 

“Tony!”

“Fine! Then what do you suggest, Miss Potts? I’m out of ideas… out of ideas that do not involve violence and the deadly use of our Hulk, that is.” Tony took back the glass and got to his feet. He walked over to the bar and frowned, pointing at the mechanical arm on the other side. “You spill pouring this Dummy and I will send you to the scrap heap!” 

The sad little whine from the AI arm and the bob from the device indicated that it understood and proceeded to pour Stark’s drink. It did so without spilling a drop. 

Then the idea hit him. 

Stark smiled and held out his hand for the glass. The smile was short lived when the bot went to put the glass down on the counter.

“No! Don’t put it down on the top, just give it to me!” he sighed and tutted irritably when Dummy didn’t know where to put it, in his hand or on the table. “Me! Give me the glass! Give me… oh never mind! JARVIS, contact Erik Selvig and Jane Foster!” 

_“As you wish, sir.”_

“Tony!” Pepper leapt up from the sofa and immediately there was a finger pointed in Stark’s direction. “Don’t you dare bring Jane into this! She and Thor agreed to not--!”

Tony approached her and silenced her warning with a kiss. He got a push for it, but Tony could only grin, which in turn made that cute little smirk, rise at the corner of her mouth. 

“Pepper, I know what I’m doing. Those two know how to contact Thor’s people. They’re the so called experts and are bound to have his parent’s phone number! We give Odin a call and ask him to have a little word with his son about his behaviour! No biggie!”

“You’re going to tell on Thor to his dad? Really?” 

“I know! It’s so petty and childish of me! If it gets him to stop humping our beloved leader like a Labrador on heat, then sure! Why not?” 

“Tony, Thor said this was normal for his people, why involve his father on something that’s clearly a personal matter!”

“Pepper… Thor’s sex drive is creating hurricanes and gale force winds on the city of New York! Thor is also inflicting some unforeseen side effects for continuingly ravishing one of the Country’s most beloved icons! It’s not personal, it’s very public! But Selvig and Foster know how to get a hold of Daddy Odin and I think Thor visiting home for a few days might be good for all of us! Relax! I know what I’m doing!” 

Tony Stark always knew what he was doing.

\-----------

 

The Iron Man didn’t need to contact any one. 

Heimdall had already informed the All Father of certain things he’d seen, not that he was looking all the time into that room, but there was something clearly wrong with the Son of Odin. 

“So… how does this happen now that the bi-frost has gone?” 

The Warriors Three stood by Heimdall, waiting for something, they knew not what. Hogan was patiently waiting, expressionless and silent as always; Volstagg was impatient but curious, looking behind the Gatekeeper and all around for something and Fandral twirled at his moustache, clearly worried and concerned about going back to Midgard and about his friend. 

“The new bi-frost is being built with the Tesseract.” Heimdall said matter of factly in his deep tones. “I have borrowed some of its power to send you to Midgard. Hurry and bring Thor back. Bring the human he’s with as well.” 

“Bring a human? Here?” gasped Volstagg. “That hasn’t happened in a--!” 

The large warrior never got a change to finish his sentence as he and his companions were engulfed in a swirl of blue and they disappeared. Once the power ebbed away into nothing, Heimdall took a few deep breaths and looked down towards their destination. 

“You are sure you do not wish to go?” he asked without even turning to look at who approached. 

“No. It will be too… uncomfortable.”

“This has never bothered you before, Lady Sif.” 

The woman came to stand by Heimdall and after a few moments, he felt her hand touch at his arm. Hardly anyone touched the Gatekeeper, but he welcomed it, even if he did feel her pain and anguish. 

“This is different. Something is different about him… something wrong.” 

Very wrong. 

\-----------

_“Brother! Did he speak to you? Did he give you the talk?”_

_Loki looked to his sibling and his friends, the three who were now virtually inseparable from the Crown prince. Why were they interested when the subject was clearly of no importance to any of them? He sighed and slumped down by one of the many towering statues that lined the miles long walkway. Thor clambered up onto the statue’s feet as did Fandral and Volgstagg and they glared down waiting for a response._

_Yes, All Father had given Loki the talk, but all the way through it, Odin had appeared distant and concerned. He had said the day would be glorious and would mark a big moment in Loki’s life, but Loki didn’t think that his father would be looking forward to it._

_It was as if Odin All Father was afraid and that was something Loki had never thought possible. His father was the King of Asgard, nothing could scare him, not even the Frost Giants._

**“Loki, you will look out for your brother, won’t you?**

**“Of course I will, father. I will do anything for him.”**

**“You’re a good boy, Loki.”**

_Odin had kissed him gently on the forehead and hurried him away to play. Loki ran off, but left an illusion behind, which noted that Odin didn’t come out of that room for the rest of the day._

_“Has father betrothed you to someone?” asked Thor, swinging his leg down and kicking playfully at Loki’s head. Loki scowled and smoothed out his black hair with one swift motion of his hand._

_“No. He did not.”_

_Though Loki wondered why All Father didn’t. Was he not good enough for a betrothed?_

_Thor slipped down from the statue and hauled Loki to his feet. He then wrapped his arms around his brother in a tight embrace._

_“Never mind! Who needs husbands and wives and children of our own when we have enemies to slay?! You and me brother! It will be you and me against the whole universe! Let them try and stop us!”_

_Loki smiled. A pleasant warmth pulsed in his chest where it had always felt so cold._

_He liked the idea of him and Thor against everyone else. He liked the idea of it just being him and Thor. He liked that a lot._

_He hugged Thor back with a tight embrace, clinging to him as the warmth in his chest intensified._

_“You and me, brother.”_


	5. The Eye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to mention here, that when I picture Fandral, I do see Josh Dallas. He was wonderfully cast in Thor and is that dashing character to a T. I was greatly saddened to learn he wasn't going to reprise that role for the second film and I'm extremely dubious about Zach Levi playing the part. Zach is cute, but I just don't think he's that kind of dashing handsome/gorgeous.
> 
> I shall of course still see the film when it comes out and save further judgement for his performance. But Fandral in my story will always be Josh. 
> 
>  
> 
> Okay.. enough of me babbling, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Still unbeta'd so there will be mistakes. (If anyone wants to beta the chapters that follow, please lemme know! I would dearly love it) 
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy.

_The fall and the landing dazed him._

_Thor was stunned for a moment as he picked himself up from ground, and it took him a few more moments before he slowly walked to where Mjölnir lay. He couldn’t comprehend why Loki had done what he had just done, there was no need! None of this made sense to Thor, surely there was a way in which they could reconcile without all this… this madness?_

_However Loki had killed the SHEILD agent, Thor’s friend, and felt no remorse for it and that had never been like his brother. Something had to be done._

_Thor took solace that the Son of Coul would be celebrating his life and his victories in Valhalla now, along with the other glorious and honoured dead. He would be grieved for, greatly, for it had been the quiet Agent of SHEILD who had assured Thor of Jane Foster’s safety, who had set his mind at ease. He talked to Thor about how she fared in his absence and how often she spoke of him and Thor had greatly appreciated hearing this. It made his heart soar thinking of her and knowing that she was safe, but he knew he would not be able to see her once Loki was captured. His return to Asgard would be immediate._

_But what was strange to him now, as Thor stood in the middle of the field and picked Mjölnir up, as the lightning struck the hammer when he held it aloft, it was not Jane Foster he thought of._

_Coulson had noticed Thor’s initial uneasiness around the other Avengers, Rogers especially so, and he had quickly settled some of the God’s concerns. Coulson showed Thor his card collection and told him the story of the super soldier with the wonderment of a child._

_So Rogers was more than human, he was enhanced by a serum that in turn only worked because of his natural goodness. He was a beloved icon, a symbol of greatness and hope._

_**You don’t have to worry, Thor,” Coulson said as Thor looked at the trading cards he had been given, in bewilderment. “You may have your misgivings, but trust him. He is everything honourable and good in this world. There is no one better.”** _

_**“You truly believe this?”**_

_**“Absolutely.”**_

_As Thor held Mjölnir up to the sky, the lightning, wind and earth swirling around him, Coulson’s words convinced him to go back and fight alongside the man they called Captain Rogers. Thor would follow his lead, because of Coulson’s say so._

_With Rogers’ help, Loki will be stopped and brought to justice._

 

\-----------------------------

 

He moved and the roots bound tighter around him. They allowed him to breathe, but barely, as they slithered in and around his mouth, gagging him and preventing him from making any sounds except his chokes. 

Yggradsil was corporeal here beneath the cities, deep in the shadows. Unlike its bodies of strong towering trunks and branches that stood like fortresses on the green slopes far from the great halls, the gnarled fleshy black roots here were decaying but they were by no means dead. 

Long ago Odin Allfather had tested himself, he had hung from the branches of the Life Tree, to prove him worthy of his title and it was told that he hung for nine days and nights without food or water with them wrapped around his throat and arms. But for Loki, his presence here was not to prove his worthiness.

He was not and never would be worthy. He was not of Asgard after all. 

The tendrils of the life tree were Loki’s prison and they were his punishment for his crimes on Earth and against Asgard. This is where he will be and remain so for the rest of his long life. It would be an eternity. The roots of the life tree never gave up anything unless Yggradsil wanted and as it held him tighter, nearly cracking at his bones, as the runes spoke to him running along the flesh of the roots, it was clear Yggradsil didn’t want to. 

There was no light down here and chilling winds rippled through the cave, swinging the roots and it’s captives to and fro. Loki was not alone down here, but the others could hardly be called company. They too were silenced, but they were like lifeless bodies hanging there, and the only signs that they still lived were the occasional moan. This was what his existence would be now; this was where he and his anger and resentment against the Asgardians would fester. 

No one had visited him since he was brought here; no one except for Thor. 

Thor had still insisted on calling him brother when he came down here and spoke about his grief for their falling out. Thor had expressed hope that Loki would end his hatred  
and thus redeem himself to Yggdrasil but Thor’s visits always ended with him being more upset than when he came and his heavy footfalls would echo throughout the cave when he left. His ‘brother’s’ visits were also the only times where there was light. A guard followed Thor and kept a distance holding a small flaming torch which cast orange and yellow glimmers of light on the cave walls. 

Now, Loki’s eyes saw in the darkness a small flame moving towards him. For a moment he thought Thor had come back again and Loki gagged with disgust at having to hear more pleads and remorse filled words from him, but the footfalls—apart from the guard’s— that accompanied the light were not the heavy falls of a man. A female. 

Loki would’ve smiled if the roots pulling at his mouth would let him. 

The light finally revealed the woman and Loki was pleasantly surprised.

He hadn’t expected her but it made sense that she would see him, eventually. She stood before him, dressed in her armour with her long black hair tied back into a stretching ponytail and a cloak of fur wrapped around her instead of a cape, to shield her from the cold, but it didn’t stop her from shivering. 

_“Lady Sif. What brings you here?”_ He would have said it if he could, but the look in his eyes got the question across to her well enough. 

She stood her ground, knowing that even in his silenced state he could still cause ‘mischief’, and grasped her hands behind her back. She was beautiful, Loki couldn’t deny it, but her kind did nothing for him. If only she were Jotun. 

Sif scowled as the roots did nothing to hide Loki’s sudden reaction. He laughed, the sounds bubbling chokes as saliva drooled from the sides of his mouth. 

“Do you know what is happening to Thor?” she asked, showing her disgust with a contempt sneer. 

_There is something wrong with the son of Odin? Oh dear. Oh dear, dear dear. That just won’t do._

Yggdrasil squeezed him for that sarcastic comment. 

_Figured._

“He is not himself, something ails him.” She said, the hint of sadness, of regret sounding in her usually cool and certain voice. 

Loki knew exactly what was going through this woman’s mind. Sif may be the friend of Thor Odinson, but she was supposed to be his betrothed, she should have been his wife, Queen of Asgard and the first who had lain with him. She loved him all through their childhood, through their betrothal and even now, it showed. Her pain was immense knowing that Thor did not love her back like she did for him, she was in her own kind of hell that these roots could never offer her, so Sif coped as she could. She was a strong Asgardian warrior; she didn’t allow her feelings, her love for Thor, to interfere with the answers she now sought. 

_“You think I am responsible?”_

Sif stepped forward, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword, her fingers twitching, just itching to pull out her sword and slay him there and then, but Loki saw the runes scrolling along the roots even though the exact words were unfathomable. Yggdrasil was telling her to stay her hand. 

The woman heeded those runes, a wave of overwhelming emotion humbled her and she bowed down and backed away ever so slightly. However, she tilted her head upwards and glared back at Loki. 

“I know that you have something to do with his condition, Loki, and the Allfather agrees. You were not content with what you did to Midgard and to the others who thought you friend. Must you find it for Thor to suffer too? Does he not already for your betrayal, Loki? He loved you! He still does!” 

_He loves me? He is a fool, a giant oaf, as he has always been! His suffering is his own._

“I will see that whatever ruin you have tried to put upon Thor will be stopped!”

_Oh really?_

If that is indeed so, there could very well be a wonderful opportunity when Thor returned to Asgard. 

 

\-------------------------

_He recalled a lot during the battle._

_One was the nagging pain of the knife wound in his abdomen. Loki had stuck it in deep and Thor had felt the blade twist slightly, but it should have healed by now. As Thor fought alongside the human Avengers, he felt the pain but also a bizarre elation, a surge of power that had his head spinning…or was that from when Banner—the Hulk— had hit him so?_

_Adrenalin coursed through his body and he experienced the rush and thrill of the kills he made, and of the power he and Mjölnir unleashed. It was beyond exhilarating. His heart was racing; his blood felt as if it was boiling in his very veins and he felt glorious! He missed this excitement of battle, the euphoria of it all as he pushed his body and power to their very limits, but even when he took hits, when the Chitauri injured him further, Thor did not allow himself to wane, he fought fiercely and never once thought of giving up._

_Thor also recalled how effortlessly the team worked together. Yes orders and directions were given; Rogers’ commands were clear, tactically sound and held such authority, and the occasional quip and witty comments made over the radio coms—mostly from Stark—made dealing with this devastation slightly easier but most of the time they didn’t need to say anything._

_As Thor paired up with each of the humans, he found he adapted well to their own unique methods of fighting. It seemed that he knew what they wanted him to do before they could ask and it felt wonderful. They had his back as he did theirs. This was their first battle as a team and it felt as if they had been doing this for years, it was strangely appealing._

_But it was all madness. Thor shouldn’t be enjoying this, people were dying, and Loki was responsible for all of this._

_The knife wound should have healed by now._

_Thor pushed himself harder and harder each time, trying to find Loki amidst the alien creatures but having no luck. His brother was elusive so Thor gave as much as he could to protect his teammates and the civilians running for their lives. But when Thor heard the shot and saw Captain Rogers fall to the ground, the haze of battle in his head turned an angry red._

_He deflected several bolts of the Chitauri weapons fire and used Mjolnir to scoop up a car, sending it flying and crushing the creatures in its path. As soon as Mjolnir returned to his hand, Thor spun round and sent her off again, giving her the free will to keep on attacking as he rushed over to Steve._

_He looked down to where the Captain was gripping his side; he saw the blood seeping through his fingers and the look of anguish on his face. Thor wanted to ask if he was okay, he wanted to pick him up and get him to some kind of medical aid, but as he held out his hand and felt the human’s grip, when he helped Roger’s to his feet and looked back to his wound… he saw he was already healing._

_“Are you ready for another bout?” Thor asked. Steve smiled as he focused in the distance watching the Chitauri fall under Mjolnir’s will._

_“What? Are you getting sleepy?”_

_Sleep did sound good. Thor was beginning to tire, but he was fascinated that the human was healing so quickly… like an Asgardian. He didn’t think Humans were capable of that, but then he had not seen such a creature as Banner before._

_Thor held out his hand and Mjolnir instantly returned. The next wave of Chitauri was slowly moving in._

_“Not in the slightest. But you…” Thor reached down to Steve’s bloodied hand and pulled it away. There was a lot of blood. While the Captain was fatigued, he didn’t look as pained any more._

_“I’m fine. Super serum. I can carry on all day.”_

_Thor doubted that he could and touched at the wound, making Steve wince. The Captain’s legs buckled a little but he grabbed onto Thor for support. The tips of Thor’s fingers wiped the excess blood off the wound, again making the man shiver, and he marveled at how the skin was already beginning to heal._

_“Does it hurt badly?”_

_“Yeah, but it’ll pass.”_

_“You do not require medical assistance?”_

_Steve smiled and shook his head. He picked up his shield and eased himself away from Thor’s grasp. Then his eyes looked down to where Thor’s own blood had been dripping through his armour._

_“Do you?”_

_Even if he did, there was no time. The enemy was upon them once again and they had naught else to do but fight side by side._

_The wound really should have healed by now._

 

\---------------------

 

Was it possible to die from pleasure? 

Could the god enveloping him, moving inside of him, kill him like this? If he were to die now, it would be so sweet… it would be the most wonderful death. 

Steve couldn’t focus. He could barely breathe as the power surging through him was immense. It was screaming—or was that him?—it was raging through him sending every muscle in his body into spasm and to the very brink of ecstasy. 

The constant sparks of lightening which emanated from Thor’s hands coursed over Steve’s sweating torso like snakes, prickling his skin and making him shudder. They burned, tingled, they shocked and crept beneath his skin, giving that extra jolt of pleasure.

Thanks also to the super serum, Steve found that it was possible for him to recover quickly after he came and continue on. He didn’t know how it was possible or how he could keep going through this, but through his increasing drowsy euphoria, Steve was always jolted back to awareness by the shock of Thor’s charged touch. 

Now, Thor had dragged Steve up onto his knees, even though all Steve wanted to do was sag in his hold and pass out into a blissful coma. A strong muscled arm wound around his waist, Thor’s fingers and a few stray sparks traced across his abdomen, again jerking him out of his stupor , whilst Thor’s other hand steadied them both and kept them upright, resting against the wall as Thor pounded and buffeted himself deeper into Steve with vicious thrusts.

Steve wanted to pass out, he wanted to stay awake and feel all of this for he never thought anyone could. He was going from one extreme to the other and Steve lost all sense of time as Thor thighs slammed hard against his rear; he lost all sense of anything except for Thor and the ripples of pain and euphoria ebbing through him. 

Then the God suddenly shoved so hard into him, every inch of his cock buried inside, and Steve bellowed a loud yell, followed by incomprehensible words and slaver which drooled down his chin. He choked and gasped, the sweat poured off him as the rapid pounds from the Thor’s body increased and as did the static shocks. 

He could die right now and die happy at the hands of this God. 

Suddenly Thor stilled inside him, the booms of thunder and rain that had been raging the city for hours, calmed. The room was now gently illuminated by a white silver hue that emanated from Thor and Mjolnir and for a moment Steve was allowed to settle in Thor’s arms. His raking convulsions diminished to small shakes and he could finally find his breath. Thor held Steve tenderly, one hand caressing on his hip and the other stroking up and down the slickened expanse of Steve’s chest whilst he kissed around his neck. 

Steve heard Thor murmuring breathlessly in his ear. He didn’t understand any of what was said as it was clearly Thor’s native tongue, a mixture of Danish and something alien. Thor whispered them with hushed tones and the deepness of his voice breathed over the shell of Steve’s ear with intense lust and affection. Those words…whatever they were… made Steve bite his bottom lip, it made him find what little strength he had left to raise his arm up and round to grab a fist of long drenched blond hair.

He tried to speak the god’s name, but again only a moaning vocalization came out of his mouth. It pitched when the arm around his waist loosened and a gentle palm took hold of his aching swollen cock. Those Asgardian words again whispered and growled in his ear, promising him everything and assuring him as Thor’s palm began to slowly stroke him. Steve closed his eyes and bowed his head low as he lost himself in the rhythm of Thor’s hand and the thrust of his hips. Thor kissed and bit around his neck, devouring with hunger and leaving red marks on Steve’s skin. He murmured Steve’s name over and over again and then finally Steve came, spilling into his hand.

The high of orgasm, each gush that came from him, shook Steve uncontrollably. He couldn’t stop and as he tensed, clenching hard, he heard Thor’s own pleasured groans. Thor pulled him tightly to his chest and Steve finally collapsed completely in his arms; he had nothing left, no energy or strength so Thor held him, letting him tremble, comforting him with kisses along his shoulders, before slowly pulling out of Steve and gently easing him down onto his back. 

“Rest, my Captain.” Thor’s deep dulcet tone whispered lovingly against his mouth. “Sleep if you can.”

Steve couldn’t speak. His ragged breath hadn’t returned to normal and he had no strength at all, so his hands were guided lazily over his body by Thor’s, their fingers entwined as their palms stroked over every muscle on Steve’s torso, smearing through the sweat and ejaculate as Thor’s mouth kissed around his neck again, smattering a few pleading to his lips.

Steve wanted to sleep, but with the God of Thunder on top of him, with the charge of his power and energy still emanating all around him, he didn’t think it possible. Steve turned his head as Thor continued to bite hungry needy marks against his neck and collar and saw Mjolnir by the wall. She was humming, vibrating and Steve hadn’t noticed it before. Only in this aftermath could he hear and it was soothing, it was a beautiful sound along with Thor’s rumbles of want in his chest. Mjolnir was still extracting power from Thor, siphoning him off but Steve knew Thor couldn’t stop. 

Steve didn’t understand the connection Thor had with that hammer or how his powers worked, but he was simply not being sated. Thor was very much fuelled and he wanted more. 

Through his blurred vision, Steve saw the intoxicated look upon Thor’s face. Thor was utterly besotted, entranced, and when he purposely rubbed himself against Steve’s thigh, still so hard, he looked to be incredibly drunk and giddy.

How much could he possibly contain or endure, for Steve simply couldn’t recall Thor coming at all. What he lay in was all him, except for the sweat. There wasn’t much Steve could recall, except how euphoric and so damned wonderful he felt through it all and how he was feeling now. 

“Rest…” Thor reverted back to his own language; he muttered words which felt like a promise against Steve’s mouth, before slipping off of him. The large Asgardian then turned to his side pulled Steve into him, his arms wrapped around Steve as they spooned and he nuzzled his beard and mouth again along Steve’s neck. 

As his eyes began to close, the storm began to pick up pace again. It was agitated and frustrated, Steve could somehow sense it as it was matching the mood of Mjolnir’s owner and it wasn’t going to let up unless the God was satisfied. That wasn’t going to happen any time soon. 

It took a few more seconds before Steve dropped off completely with the warm cocoon of Thor’s body wrapped around him. He recalled a flash of brilliant blue erupting outside and then Thor’s voice.

“They’re here.” 

\-----------------------------

 

_“We won.”_

_“All right! Yay! Hurray! Good job guys! Let’s just not come in tomorrow. Let’s just take a day.”_

_The man of Iron had proved his worth. He had stopped the bomb and nearly sacrificed his life for the people of this city, of this world. He had lived and saved them all. Thor felt great admiration for him._

_“Have you ever tried shawarma? There’s a shawarma joint just two blocks from here. I don’t know what it is but I want to try it.”_

_What was this shawarma? Was it some kind of foodstuff? Thor’s stomach rumbled in anticipation. The thought of food was greatly appealing, but his needs could wait for moment._

_“We’re not finished yet.”_

_“Then shawarma after?”_

_Aye. Indeed._

_When his brother was taken back to the helli-carrier, Thor saw to it that Loki was gagged to prevent him from manifesting his illusions or manipulate the humans placed around to guard him. He saw to it that Loki was secure before doing anything else._

_In the tiny little shawarma restaurant, amongst broken chairs, broken glass and broken walls, the Avengers all paid homage to the fallen, to Coulson and others who had lost their lives and then tucked hungrily into the mound of shawarma gratefully prepared for them by the owners._

_The staff cleaned up as the heroes ate in silence after their toasts to their fallen._

_At first Thor’s new teammates looked to him in utter astonishment as he scoffed down dozens of the shawarma within a matter of minutes. The others certainly didn’t have the appetite as he did, though Steve did manage to keep up with him for a while, and Thor amazed and stunned them with how much he put away. Thor drank several cups of soda too, the sweet fizzy mixture hyped him up like a child and gave him quite a sugar rush, but after a while, even Thor noted how much he was consuming._

_It didn’t make him stop however._

_“More!”_

_Thor’s yell broke the comfortable silence the Avengers had been eating in and startled the members of staff still sweeping up. They brought him more and seriously didn’t mind his boisterous bellows or that he banged the table with heart felt glee and broke it. They promptly brought over a new table and his teammates watched in great amusement as Thor got through much more than was humanly possible._

_“I thought I ate a lot… but this is…wow!” Rogers was absolutely lost for words and Thor smiled at him, with his mouth full and his cheeks bulging._

_“After a battle, aye Captain, my kind eats a lot and much more so!” Thor swallowed what had been in his mouth and took another swig of soda. “But this day I find myself even more famished than Volstagg and he is a man who could eat a great feast to himself! These shawarma are most excellent and hearty meals! This was a fantastic recommendation Stark! I need more! Bring me more!”_

_The staff were only too happy to oblige. They kept bringing Thor food and when the Avengers couldn’t eat further, when Steve could no longer keep up with him and they were on the verge of falling asleep in their chairs they were that drowsy, Thor continued eating, ravenous beyond anything._

_It was only when Steve’s hand—which had been propping up his head—slipped and his head fell, smacking his face onto the table, that Thor stopped, dropped the half-eaten wrap to his plate and turned to help the Captain. He smiled and laughed at the team leader’s daze and confused state._

_“Are you okay, Captain?” Steve nodded but when he rose up from his chair, he was very wobbly on his feet and he was having difficulty in focusing._

_“I…I think it would be best we get back to the carrier.”_

_“Very well. Here endeth the feast in the palace of shawarma! One day on my next visit to your world, I shall return here and sample more of this most awesome delicacy!” Thor hauled Rogers to his feet and kept him stable with a supporting arm around his waist. “Captain, I shall aid you in our journey back, that blow to the head has surely dazed you!”_

_“No… I’m fine, I’m…” Steve stumbled again but he didn’t fall as Thor’s strong grip tightened around him and held him up. “Okay… I’m not fine. Thanks Thor. I appreciate the help.”_

_“Any time my friend!”_

_The Avengers left the establishment, full and extremely tired. Thor was the only one who wasn’t. He didn’t want to rest or sleep, he didn’t think he could, for the energy was so great inside of him, he needed to release, to vent and fight more!_

_Fury was not happy that they had absconded and had begun to lay into them when they returned, but it was when the issue of the Tesseract and of Loki’s imprisonment was brought up that Thor’s light hearted and jovial manner from the shawarma palace faded._

_“The Council are demanding that the Tesseract stays here. They also want Loki to remain to face our justice.”_

_The whole bridge of the helli-carrier fell silent as Thor stood face to face with the Director. His demeanour changed, the rumble of thunder directly outside put every single person on edge._

_Fury was not a person who could be scared easily, by anything or anyone, Thor’s sudden change really shook him. He was not going to be stupid enough to go against this Asgardian, Fury wouldn’t dare and neither would anyone else. No one would argue or say one word against the God._

_“Director Fury, that is not a decision for your Council or your leaders to make. The Tesseract and my brother will both return to Asgard with me.”_

_“I’m not going to stand in your way.”_

_“Good.”_

_Thor wanted to leave immediately._

_He had already lost some time with the meal, but that was a necessity. Selvig even asked if he wanted to speak to Jane, to let her know he had come back and that he would again in the near future, but even that thought concerned him. Thor was tempted. He wanted to speak to her using the ‘Skype’ which Selvig had mentioned but getting Loki and the Tesseract off the Earth was far more important._

_He could not delay._

_However, an accidental collision against another agent as he headed towards Banner’s lab to collect the Tesseract had him change his mind. A stinging pain jarred his side and the small barge had Thor reaching for the wall for support. Luckily it was only Banner and few other agents walking with him and so he managed to convince them that he was okay, though as the injury continued to cause him extreme discomfort, Thor opted to stay just a little bit longer, to check it out himself._

\---------------------

 

“He had to put us outside! Couldn’t Heimdall have landed us under some kind of cover or in some shelter?”

The Warriors Three had landed in New York and they were right in the thick of a torrential downpour. They had also landed right in the middle of the road and caused a bit of a standstill. Whilst the metal vehicles—Thor had said they were called cars—remained stationary, the blaring horns and angry yells quickly got the three off the road. 

Volstagg looked around for shelter and finally led his friends to where some rather stunned looking humans were keeping out of the rain by standing beneath the awning of a cafe. It really didn’t matter anymore that the Asgardians found this shelter as all three of them were drenched to the bone. 

They looked very peculiar, dressed and drenched in their full Asgardian armour, standing amongst some bewildered and very tiny looking humans. They were stunned themselves to see a vastly different Midgardian scene than their last visit, it was so noisy and busy, the tall sky scrapers gave this city an extremely claustrophobic feel and the storm wasn’t making things easy either.

Volstagg grinned sheepishly to the ten people standing near them and ruffled his wet beard. He was much more used to open spaces, Asgard and all its cities were grand on scale, but were open, vast and roomy. This city…it felt so closed in. 

“This is storm is Thor’s doing.” Hogan gruffly whispered to Fandral. “We must find him.” 

Fandral agreed whole heartily. The spot where they landed had lot more humans around, even with the rain, but the Tesseract’s power, the wisps of blue energy, hadn’t been slight. Even now the remains of the energy flickered in the air and around Earth’s new visitors and the humans were extremely curious about them. Questions were no doubt on their minds, but now was not the time to be pandering to their curiosity. The warriors also didn’t want to wait around for whatever law enforcement these people had to turn up.  
Fandral recognised the mood of this storm, he knew that this was not just naturally occurring and he knew it well that his friend was in trouble. This storm was chaotic and that should not be happening with the Thunderer. Thor needed help. 

“We need to find Thor, now.” 

“He’ll be at Avengers Tower.” A young woman, a waitress, flashed a smile at Fandral and pointed across the street. Fandral smiled back at her his thanks and saw her blush when he bowed and walked out into the rain. 

“Thank you.” 

Ignoring the yells and car horns, the Warriors Three walked out on to the road again and approached the tower, somehow avoiding being knocked over by the cars. The place looked pretty well fortified, but it was nothing that the men from Asgard couldn’t get past. Prepared for some resistance from the humans, especially as they had come to Earth unannounced, they kept their hands ready to grab their weapons.

“You won’t need those, gentlemen.” 

The warriors turned and saw another woman standing in the rain. Dressed in nothing but a tight black suit that clung to every part of her curvaceous body, her red soaked hair sticking to the sides of her face, the woman was practically unperturbed by the cold wet weather.  
They had no idea where she had come from, or how long she had been there, but when a crack of thunder boomed across the city, the woman took her cue and joined the three visitors by the door. 

“Welcome to Earth, gentlemen. I’m Agent Romanov.”

“You were expecting us?” Volstagg asked noting the gun resting on her hip. The woman smiled slyly. 

“You weren’t very stealthy in getting here. The Tesseract’s signature is familiar to us.”

“True. True.” 

The Tesseract was never subtle. 

Agent Romanov signaled to someone called JARVIS and the doors opened for them all with a quiet swoosh. Standing behind those doors was a man dressed in black, who looked very familiar and next to him was another man, tall very well built and looked as if he could give Volstagg a run for his money, but on second looks he probably couldn’t. Both men were either side of a sweet looking auburn haired woman whose smile genuinely said welcome. 

“Welcome to the Avenger’s tower. I’m Pepper Pots, this is Happy and I believe you've all met Agent Clint Barton of SHEILD from your last visit?”

All three of them shook hands with Happy and Barton, remembering how Hawkeye drove them back to the site in the dessert. 

“We’re so glad you’re here.”

“I am Volstagg the valiant, of Asgard.” Volstagg approached Pepper and took up her hand, kissing her knuckles. “This is Fandral the Dashing and Hogan the Grim. We are the Warriors Three, lifelong friends of Thor and comrades and brothers in arms.”

“We’ve been sent by the Allfather because he and all of us in the Golden realm fear for Thor.” Fandral added. 

“You fear for him?” asked Pepper. 

“Something is not right. We must see him immediately.” 

“Would you like to change, dry out first?” 

Fandral bowed again pleasantly. If this were any other time, the pretty young lady would certainly be worthy of a woo, but Thor was more important. A little bit of rain, Midgardian rain was not going to hinder him.

“Thank you, but it would be best if we can be taken to see our friend.” 

Pepper nodded and so she and Happy escorted the three to the elevators. When they were gone, only Clint and Natasha remained down in the lobby.

“Do you… want to change, dry out?” asked Barton as both of them continued to look at the pelting storm outside. An amused smile curled on Natasha’s lips. He was so serious when he said that, but she knew his intentions. “Because… I could really help you with that, if you want.”

“If I want?” 

“Well, sure. The outfit you’ve got on…must be an utter bitch to get out of when it’s wet, what with the clinging and all.” 

_‘Love is for children.’_

Sometimes Barton could be such a child. 

“I think I can manage, Clint. Thank you.” 

“Okay.”

Natasha was about to head up to her quarters to change, when a bright glimmer of sun made her stop. She then watched in astonishment as the storm completely and utterly stopped. Bright sun and a warm haze took over and she walked back out onto the busy New York street. Clint followed her. 

There was not a cloud in the sky. 

“It’s stopped.” Natasha said, which was pretty much what everyone else on the street was saying as they looked upwards in amazement. Some of the public looked their way and smiled, thinking that somehow the Avengers had managed to stop it. 

“I wouldn’t be so sure on that.” Clint took a few more steps further and tilted his head backwards so he looked up the tower, pinpointing his gaze on the exact level where Thor was residing. “This could just be the Eye.” 

That did not sound good.

\------------------------------

 

_As Thor stripped off his armour and looked in the full length mirror, he saw that a nasty discoloured bruise still swelled on his skin. It didn’t look infected but the fact that it was still there greatly worried him. Thor touched over the bruise and grit his teeth as an involuntary hiss escaped his lips at the intensity of the sting. This was not normal. The blade Loki had stabbed him with was nothing special, it had no powers imbibed upon it and the metal certainly had no mystical qualities._

_He shuddered. If it was not the blade that was the cause of this wound remaining, then there was something else. Had he picked up an infection from this world?_

_Thor did not feel right, the clammy sweat and grime that still covered him made him even more uncomfortable. He was off balance and he noticed strange vibes from Mjolnir. The hammer was vibrating, humming with discord and that only meant that she was reacting to him._

_The humans knew nothing of his physiology; they wouldn’t know what to do in helping him, though Banner did express an interest in learning. The only thing he could do was to see the healers back on his home world. They were the only ones who could tell him for sure._

_Thor stripped off the remainder of his clothes and took a complete look at himself. He studied every part of his body, touching, prodding and feeling every part his hand could reach, but everything seemed fine, there were no other abnormalities, he could feel nothing out of place nor could he feel anything wrong._

_He did look tired and disgusting. His face was haggard, dirt and sweat covered his skin and his hair was greasy and tangled. Even his beard had blood and grime embedded into the short hairs. This was no way for him to return home._

_Stark had recommended a shower before he went home and at the time Thor wasn’t concerned about it but as he heard the running water and saw the steam billowing out from the other room, he thought it might do him some good._

_It wouldn’t take long._


	6. Storm Chasers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there folks! 
> 
> This story has not been forgotten about. Thanks to my numerous viewings of the second Thor fillim (YAY!) I have come to two conclusions. 
> 
> One...sorry Zach, I still prefer Josh Dallas as my Fandral, but Zach did do much better than I ever hoped. 
> 
> Two, this story will actually take place after Avengers Assemble but before Thor: The Dark World and obviously Cap American and the Winter Soldier. Might even take place before IM3. Haven't figured that bit out, but what I have figured out is the ending and where I really want to go with this! XD 
> 
> I hope people still like this story, I'm having fun writing it. A big thanks to those wot kudos and leave comments. They are appreciated. 
> 
> This next chapter is beta'd by Celeste 9 but any mistakes are all mine. 
> 
> Enjoy. Ta!

_“That’s the boy?”_

_Erskine smiled and nodded. His colleague scowled at the scrawny teen as he was pushed out of the way by the other men getting to the bar. She was not at all impressed by the young man and she turned away, barging through the door to get to the street._

_Erskine was concerned by her reaction, but in all fairness she was just like everyone else on this project; a touch arrogant and self-absorbed. However she was focused on the work and she had a lot of potential. She was an extremely intelligent woman._

_“Is there a problem with my choice? Do you think I am wrong?” Erskine asked once he caught up with her in the street._

_She thought he was wrong about a lot of things. This woman had questioned his decisions on this project more than anyone else and now was going to be just another one of those times._

_“I do not think he is worthy.”_

_Erskine laughed._

_“Worthy? You don’t think that young boy is worthy? That’s harsh, especially given how he’s proven himself against the others we’ve tested.”_

_“He is nobody special. There is nothing remarkable about him.”_

_“That…is an inaccurate assumption, my dear. He fits the profile perfectly. In fact, he far exceeds everyone’s expectations including my own. There is nothing but good in him, he is pure in every way. He’s the perfect choice. Do you have any specific reason as to why you don’t want us to use this young man?”_

_“I think some of the others in the General’s class are more suited.”_

_“That is, of course, your opinion. Come, let’s go to the recruitment centre and wait for him to try to enlist.”_

_“He will try to enlist?” The surprise in her voice was laced with disgust. “He is but a mewling little infant, weak…”_

_“He’s tried so many times before so I don’t think he’ll stop now. The boy wants to fight for his country and that is commendable. Our project is the only way which will allow him to do so. I am right on this, so please indulge me. If I’m wrong—and I sincerely doubt that I am—I will allow you to choose the next candidate.”_

_“Doctor... I really don’t think…”_

_“If I am wrong, then I will go with your suggestions. That is all I will say on the matter.”_

_Erskine held up his hand to bring an end to the conversation, which again did not please the young woman. He smiled and took hold of her hand, patting it with understanding. She was confounded by that gesture as she so often was with Erskine’s charming acts of compassion._

_It was a shame, as one so young and brilliant as her, she really should learn to relax and find time to enjoy herself, even in this dreadful time._

_He led her away from the bar and along the busy New York street. His project was essential and that young nineteen year old was the best chance for success, Erskine knew it, he could feel it. Phillips wouldn’t like it any more than she did, but that young man was going to prove them wrong._

 

\---------

 

Tony wasn’t quite sure what to make of the Warrior Three. They were a bizarre trio, but whilst they had an odd comic appearance and manner—their amazement at Stark’s technology was like children gaping in awe—Tony was certain that getting on the wrong side of any of them would be a huge mistake, especially the big one. 

They were Asgardians and were just as strong as Thor was. 

Tony had introduced himself as did Bruce and Pepper, and while the one called Volstagg was cheery and boisterous in his response, the other two were eerily quiet. There was an awkward moment as no one said anything after the niceties were exchanged, but the largest one beamed happily when food was brought in, along with some hot beverages. 

“Where is Thor?” The littlest Asgardian’s voice was gruff and dour and it certainly made Stark a little edgy. 

_Don’t mess around with these guys seriously Stark, don’t!_

“He’s busy,” he replied, coughing to clear his throat, even though it didn’t really need clearing. “He’s, er…busy doing Thor things.” 

“He is alone?” asked Fandral, frowning as Volstagg began wolfing down the sandwiches and other savoury snacks from the plates on the counter top. 

“No. He’s with a special friend,” Tony smiled, winking very provocatively. “If you know what I mean.” 

“I think they know what you mean, Tony,” Bruce said out of the corner of his mouth.

“You _think?_ ” Tony gasped in mock surprise. 

“We know,” Hogun said. “It should not be happening in this manner.”

“Why, in what manner do you Asgardians normally do things?” Tony ignored the jolt of Pepper’s elbow into his ribs as best he could, but he got her message. 

“We don’t cause storms, for starters.” Fandral turned to look out of the window. “Thor has been known to cause some minor ones when in…an exuberant mood. However this is different, this kind of disturbance only occurs if the mating bond happens and that is not possible with humans. Thor is with another one of you Midgardians?” 

There was apprehension and worry in the way he asked that question and it was enough to stop Volstagg eating. He and the short one both looked to the blonde with worry. 

“Yeah,” said Bruce. “He is.” 

“Miss Foster?” 

“No. Er…look, what’s the beef?” Tony interjected. “You think something is wrong with Thor, you can by all means go and get him if you feel you can.”

Fandral shook his head. 

“It’s complicated. Any sudden reaction on our part could make it worse, for everyone.”

“We figured as much,” said Banner.

“But this is not like any storm Thor has caused before, this is not through choice. I fear that he may be going through a transition that frankly…should not be happening. We need to see him. He needs to come away from this other human that he’s with before he gravely hurts her.”

“ _Him,_ ” Stark corrected. “Your buddy has shacked up with our team leader.”

“Oh! Indeed?”

“You seem surprised.” 

“A little,” A slight bemused smile curled at the edge of Fandral’s mouth. “Thor hasn’t had many male partners in his life.”

“No kidding?” 

“We don’t kid about sex.”

“I should hope not, for the Captain’s sake.” 

They were cut short when the door opened. 

Thor came casually strolling through, wearing nothing except the cotton sleep pants that hung low on his hips. His hair was tied back into one tail but several loose strands framed the huge grin on his face, the grin that appeared to add to the radiating charge filling the room. It was impossible not to feel the energy coming from the thunder god. It was euphoric just being in his presence. It was contagious.

It felt dangerous and exciting, intoxicating. Tony, himself now had this very big urge to sweep Pepper off her feet and take her right there and then and by the way she looked at him, the way beads of sweat were forming on her brow, her teeth nipping her lip, she wouldn’t mind if he did. 

Upon seeing the three new visitors, Thor bellowed out in joy and rushed to his friends, crushing them all in one huge hug. Tony, Bruce and Pepper watched with astonishment as the three god-like men embraced and cheered like teenage boys ready to go out partying. 

“My friends!” Thor damn near throttled Hogun, giving him a noogie with exalted glee. “I’m so pleased you’re here! I take it the Lady Potts and my Midgardian friends have been treating you well?”

“They have, Thor,” Volstagg patted his belly. “These little things with the filling inside are most tasty!”

“But you are drenched! Do you want to change?” Tony saw Thor’s hand cup at Fandral’s cheek, lingering affectionately longer than normal. Fandral shook his head and gently took Thor’s hand away, but then he starred deep into Thor’s eyes. Thor chuckled a dirty laugh. “You wish to do something else, Fandral?” 

“No, thank you.”

Thor laughed. It was a loud outburst that caught everyone by surprise. Thor whacked Fandral hard on the back and caused him to stagger. 

“The past is the past! We had fun times together, but I find that I no longer wish for anyone else.” 

“Steve’s got you pretty smitten, huh?” Tony asked.

Thor grinned and nodded, but the smile faded somewhat when Fandral grabbed both sides of his face and once again glared into his eyes. 

“Well?” Volstagg asked. 

“Well what?” Thor kept his eyes on Fandral, grinning as if there was nothing wrong. “What are you looking for?” 

“You know, Thor,” Fandral warned. “Don’t pretend that you don’t. Heimdall and the Allfather are concerned. We need you to come back to Asgard so we can fix the problem.”

“Problem?” 

_Uh-oh._

With the way that Thor’s demeanour drastically changed, with the deep threatening boom of thunder outside, it made sense to Stark that Thor and Steve’s never-ending tussles shouldn’t ever be called ‘a problem’ to his face. It really wouldn’t go down so well, considering how attached Thor was to Captain America right now. 

“This isn’t normal, Thor.” 

They probably shouldn’t have said that either. 

 

\----------

 

_“Thor! Thor!”_

_Thor turned on the shower but turned at the call of his name instead of ducking under the water. Something was greatly amiss._

_While the Black Widow herself was not vexed or angry at his presence, it seemed that the ten women shielding themselves behind their towels were. Most of them were. There were a few, like Natasha, who were not at all worried._

_“Lady Romanov?”_

_“You need to leave,” she said walking up to him and gently touching his forearm. Thor bowed his head graciously._

_“May I not cleanse myself first? Or at the very least could you let me wash and put aid to my wound?”_

_Agent Romanov looked and so did some of the other women. She looked over every inch of Thor’s naked form. Her hand slipped from his arm and reached to the wound on his hip. She saw Thor wince but he quickly regained his composure._

_“You do need to attend to that wound, but you can’t do it here.”_

_Why not? Was there something malfunctioning with the shower? Thor placed his hand under the water, the temperature of which was adequate. Then it might just be what the others were kicking up such a fuss about. The ten women in the showers had been objecting about something, but surely it wasn’t anything he had done. He’d only just arrived._

_“I will not be long. I give you my word.”_

_“You really can’t shower here, Thor,” Natasha reiterated. “It would be best if you go next door.”_

_“I have done something wrong?”_

_“Wrong? Some might say that, I think you’ve just made a mistake.”_

_“Oh, then I offer my sincerest apologies, Miss Romanov. I’m sorry if I’ve offended…”_

_“Thor…” Again Natasha flicked her eyes down to his groin and the corner of her mouth turned up in a slight grin. “You haven’t offended me. But it might be best if you showered next door…on your left.”_

_“As you, wish.” Thor turned off his shower and addressed the rest of those present. “Ladies.”_

_He bowed and headed out of the room, uncertain as to exactly what he had done wrong. Why he could still hear them shouting after he’d left, he didn’t know either, but none of that mattered when he found the right place to be._

_There was only one person in the showers here._

_He was leaning against the wall, both hands flat against the tiles as steam and hot water washed off the soap, mud and blood that caked a broad muscled body. Thor could only watch, utterly stunned and helpless, entranced, as water glided and cascaded from thick shoulders all the way down and off a tight clenching ass._

_Thor felt warmth immediately clench in his abdomen. A rush of blood caused dizziness in his head and a very sudden hardening between his legs as Captain Steve Rogers straightened from leaning and began to slowly and gently run his hands over his hips and across his buttocks._

_Thor’s heart began to race. Every part of him reacted and did so with such intensity and craving that he simply couldn’t form any rational thought. A driving instinct, a primal desire was drawing Thor closer to the human mortal, and it grew stronger the longer Steve continued to shower and touch himself. When Steve turned his head this way and that, when he gasped as some of the water spilled into his mouth, Thor barely managed to supress a groan._

_Steve Rogers was perfection in every way. No mortal, not even Jane evoked such feelings and sensations within him. Why was this happening now? Why was this human stirring up sensations, feelings and urges like this?_

_It felt a lot like how Thor felt when he went through the change, when he came of age. He had been driven by the rise in hormones…what humans called puberty, but he shouldn’t be going through this again. It wasn’t that. Whatever this was it was much worse, much stronger._

 

_Thor couldn’t help himself, he couldn’t force himself to walk away and go elsewhere because every fibre of his being wanted to touch that man. He wanted to do more. Thor walked over to Rogers, who appeared to be blissfully unaware that the Asgardian god was standing behind him, and reached out a hand._

_His fingers brushed lightly across the width of the Captain’s shoulder blades and as soon as he touched skin, Thor knew he was doomed._

_He expected the crack to his jaw. He expected the other fists and blows to his person as Steve spun round, so startled that he acted instinctively. Thor eventually grabbed hold of Steve’s wrists, preventing any further attacks and Thor pressed him against the wall, pinning Steve’s arms above his head._

_“Thor! What…what the heck are you doing?”_

_He didn’t hesitate, he didn’t wait for more resistance or any further punches. Thor leaned in. He pressed his body against Steve’s and slipped one hand down his arm to rest on Steve’s waist. As his fingers squeezed, several tiny sparks of lightning shot from Thor’s fingertips and snaked across Steve’s skin, which caused both of them to stumble and slip. The water still pouring over the both of them carried the sparks on, rippling powerful waves of pleasure over them both. Hearing the sexual groan come from Steve’s mouth made Thor drop his other hand, cupping it against Steve’s face before kissing him hard._

_Two hands pressed against his shoulders, they tried to push him away. Steve was tense and afraid but just as quickly as he had been taken by surprise by the kiss, things changed._

 

He was asleep. He needed it, but his whole body was still tingling, aching for more. He was so tired but the one hand stroking over his body, clawing and rubbing over him with longing made him open his eyes.

He looked down his body and there was Thor between his legs, smiling back at him, purposely licking his lips as his hand continued to stroke over Steve’s leg. 

“You are perfect.” 

Steve managed a smile. “Nobody is perfect, Thor.” 

“Do you know how long it has taken me to find you?” Thor’s hand slipped between Steve’s legs and his fingers began to deftly work at Steve’s cock, stroking and squeezing, enticing. “I cannot believe that such a mortal as you would be everything I was looking for and that you would have everything I need!” 

Thor puffed a warmth breath across the tip of Steve’s cock, making him shudder, he gasped and writhed. He jerked as soft wet lips pursed over the head and kissed it. 

“Thor...please stop. I need to sleep. I can’t keep up with you anymore.” 

“You are everything. I cannot let you go.” 

“Then you will surely kill me.” 

“It’s not a bad way to die is it? Pleasured by the mouth of your god?” 

Steve grinned, his eyes fluttered closed again and he could only tense as his entire member was taken within a hot wet mouth, but just as instantly as those lips began to suck and as a tongue began to swirl and lick around his shaft, he knew something was wrong. 

 

_There was fear, he sensed it as he scooped Steve up and wrapped his legs around his back. There was fear as he ravished his mouth against Steve’s, plunging his tongue inside to taste him. There was fear as Thor hefted him further up the wall of the shower, one hand holding his leg and the fingers of his other probing at the twitching hole of Steve’s ass._

_Steve was scared and in shock but he certainly didn’t want to stop. It didn’t stop him from spurring Thor on either. He moaned the Asgardian’s name as they kissed. He gasped and jerked himself hard against Thor, clinging at his long drenched hair and pulling with all his might, urging him to keep going._

_“What…what…is…this?” Steve’s words mumbled against Thor’s mouth. The only reply he got was a deep feral growl that reverberated through the whole of Thor’s body and a very sharp bite hissed against his bottom lip._

_Thor couldn’t form the words. His whole body was being charged with an energy and urge that was so powerful he felt that he could die if it wasn’t expelled. He didn’t know what this was, why it was happening, only that he needed to keep touching this man. He needed to taste every part of him, he needed to be inside him._

_It was clumsy, the two of them locked together, kissing and clawing at each other, but none of that seemed to matter. Thor didn’t care, as long as Steve was still there, that the contact was still happening._

_Then that wasn’t enough. Thor moved his fingers more roughly against Steve’s ass, he pinched it, he felt it throbbing and for a very brief moment, he let Steve twitch before pushing his two fingers up inside._

_Steve cried out. He jolted. There was a hefty whack against Thor’s body from a very hard cock and Thor couldn’t help but grin. Then Steve pulled so hard on Thor’s hair it snapped his head back and another shot of lightning came from Thor’s hand…from the fingers that were inside Steve._

_Both men yelled as the pleasured shock convulsed them. Thor’s footing slipped, making him slide beneath the torrent of the shower but he retained his hold on Steve, he kept his fingers inside him still pumping and twisting as they continued on with their hungry, desperate kiss. Steve’s moans became louder, heavier and more ecstatic with every push of Thor’s fingers and even more sparks began to roll off from the thunder god, snaking over both of their naked bodies._

 

There was no spark. 

Steve couldn’t feel any of the sparks that always came from Thor when they touched. In fact, there was no spark at all, literal or emotional. Steve didn’t feel any of the longing or desire he felt around Thor. He felt empty and cold all of a sudden as if he had lost something. 

He opened his eyes and looked at Thor who sat up, smiling as spit and pre-cum drooled from his mouth and soaked his beard. He watched as Thor touched himself, first wiping his mouth and then his chest, all the way down to his erection. He took hold of himself, always watching Steve’s response, and began to masturbate, with slow hard strokes. 

There was no spark. 

“Thor?” 

“Do you want me?” 

No. 

No, he didn’t. 

Unlike in the shower on the hellicarrier, unlike any of the times before, Steve didn’t want the Asgardian at all. There was zero attraction and no desire to want anything from him.   
There was no spark. 

Then another thought dawned on him. 

Where was Mjolnir? 

Thor’s hammer was gone. Thor didn’t go anywhere without her and during all the hours they had spent in this room, she had always been by the window, propped up against the wall. She wasn’t here. 

“Do you want me?” Thor asked again. 

Steve shook his head. “No.” 

The room became very cold very quickly.

“Oh dear. This changes everything.” 

 

_He couldn’t stop. Neither of them could be close enough, so they continued to kiss, to touch and claw at each other even after Thor’s legs gave out beneath him. The electric tendrils were now discharging from both of them, shooting off in all directions and impacting with the walls of the shower._

_Steve was beneath him but was still managing to crush Thor with a fierce hold of his arms and legs. Thor murmured between gasps for breath; he murmured words in his own tongue that Steve didn’t understand at all and whose own drooling babble of words made no sense to Thor. It was vital that this didn’t stop. They had to keep going. It was paramount that they keep this contact, keep touching, Thor had to remain inside of him._

_Thor broke apart the kiss, got to his knees and pried Steve’s legs apart. The look in the human’s eyes was hopeful, but there was great fear. Thor shook his head and stroked a soft gentle hand against Steve’s body. He tried to soothe Steve as much as he could, but he couldn’t be calm. Every part of him was raging and he could see Steve was too. This wasn’t time for calm._

_Thor grinned._

_He didn’t give any warning, nor was he exactly gentle. He took a hold and guided himself in straight and hard with one big push._

_Steve screamed._

_There was an almighty bolt of lightning that shot from them both. Thor cried out, meeting resistance from a tension tightening harder around him, but still he pushed. He pushed deeper, making Steve yell louder and clench harder, digging his nails into Thor’s thighs._

_He called out for his god._

_Once Thor was fully inside him, when he lowered down upon Steve, smothering his mumbling words with his mouth, he felt the Captain relax…just a little bit. That was when he began to thrust with his hips, filling his mouth with crying ecstatic screams of his name._

_Then the multitude of sparks became dangerous._

_The alarms went off and so did the fire suppression system._

 

“Who are you?” 

Steve pushed him back. He edged away from Thor and slipped off the bed, picking up the first thing he could find that would cover him up. The ripped and torn shreds of the sheets didn’t help, but that wasn’t his main focus. 

The man kneeling on the bed, smiling at him, was not the same man who he had lain with. There was something very odd and discerning about Thor. There was a lack of sincerity, nothing about him seemed genuine; his movements, his smile, even his eyes were different. 

There was no sexual smoulder, or geeky childlike innocence. There wasn’t any warmth in those (green? They’re supposed to be blue!) eyes. Steve could see disgust and malice staring back at him. It reminded him of someone else; of an opponent he faced in Stuttgart, the one who brought the Chitauri upon New York. Steve felt his stomach churn as he realised who this was. He thought he was going to be sick. 

Thor got up from the bed and began to walk towards him. The way he walked and touched at his body and at his hair it was not like him at all. He had finesse in his walk that was not like his usual heavy set strides and swaggering postures. 

“Caught on yet, soldier?” It sounded like Thor’s voice, but it was not him speaking. There was no deep gravelly tone, only a light lilting one, smooth and eerie. “Have you finally caught on to what this whole thing has been about?” 

Steve couldn’t reply. He could just about keep from vomiting. 

“It’s frustrating isn’t it? When you don’t know what’s going on?” The person masquerading as Thor walked up to him with a sinister creeping smile on his lips, but it faded into a disgusted grimace when he pressed up against Steve. “It’s even more infuriating when an experiment and years of careful planning goes wrong; when the very thing you hate reeks and permeates of the one you want and you can’t resist them.” 

A hand wrapped around Steve’s throat and began to squeeze. The fake Thor leaned in and sniffed long and hard at Steve’s hair.

“I am in conflict, soldier. Right now I want to do things to you that I have only dreamt about…but it sickens me as much as having you in my mouth pleasured me. It’s not supposed to be like this. I can’t do anything with you here.” Steve heard a low moan breathe against his face. “I think we should go home.” 

_I don’t think so._

Steve sharply lifted his knee, hoping the hard impact with genitals would loosen the hold on his neck, but Thor’s hand squeezed harder and he began to laugh. Steve lashed out, he swiped some punches that should have put his assailant on the floor, but instead, he froze as the naked Asgardian god of thunder began to change. A glimmer of gold and green blurred about Thor’s form, changing it and replacing it with a smaller and lither figure. 

It wasn’t the Loki he thought it would be. 

“Oh my god! It’s you?” The words choked and spluttered from Steve’s mouth moments before he slumped to the ground, unconscious. 

“Of course it’s me. Who else would it be?” 

 

\----------

 

The instant the alarms started blaring, everyone looked up expecting to hear JARVIS report, all except Thor and the three Asgardian warriors. 

“We have an intruder!” Thor proclaimed, holding out his hand. Seconds later everyone had to jump out of the way as Mjolnir came flying into the room, surging and crackling with such power that everyone could feel the charged static tingling on their skin. 

Once Mjolnir nestled in Thor’s hand, the storm outside stopped, leaving only a grey and miserable sky. A deep rumble of thunder sounded nearby. The building shook. 

_“Thor is right, sir,_ ” JARVIS’ voice spoke calmly, as always, above the sounds of the alarms “ _Someone has bypassed all my security protocols and gained entrance to the tower. I was unable to counter measure. I’m sorry, sir. Exactly how they entered is a mystery, sir, one I am unable to solve.”_

“Where is this intruder?” asked Stark.

_“Habitat level 3, sir.”_

“You have an unwanted guest!” Volstagg said, picking the large axe from his back and swinging it, missing Bruce’s face only by a couple of inches. “We shall assist in their removal!” 

_“To be more precise regarding location, our intruder is habitat level 3, Thor’s suite. Agent Romanov and Barton are already en route.”_

The storm erupted again with a fierce and deafening boom.

Inside. 

Lightning blew out from Thor and Mjolnir in all directions, causing everyone to drop to the floor. When it was safe to look up a few moments later, there was Thor floating above the floor with wind and lightning whipping around him. 

His eyes had turned black. 

The building continued to shake as strong winds raged through the corridors. It howled and ripped off panels from the walls and shattered glass, but just as quickly as it had begun, the wind died down and there was silence, except for the quiet squeaks of a once very sophisticated alarm system. When everyone managed to get back to their feet, their hair all frizzed from the static, Thor was gone. 

“Erm…maybe he doesn’t need our help?” Volstagg muttered, using his axe to scratch his beard. 

It started to rain, inside Stark Tower. 

“How does he do this?” asked Pepper in astonishment. 

“Weather manipulation…go figure, but Thor is getting the bill for all this damage!” Tony slicked back his hair and looked up. “JARVIS! Are you okay?” 

_“I’m fine, thank you, sir, for your concern. Thor did not damage me, he only disabled the alarms.”_

Stark looked at the very large hole in his wall. Thor was seriously pissed off. 

“He is getting a very large bill, thanks, JARVIS.” 

“On second thought, we’d best provide a little back up,” Volstagg said, poking his head through the hole. 

“Yeah, before my tower is destroyed.” Tony nodded at Volstagg. “I think we need to give him a hand.” 

 

\-----------

 

He didn’t know how he knew something was different, only that it was. It was a scent in the air, a sweet strong scent of apples which was curiously out of place. 

Clint had been quite comfortable on his perch, as he often was overlooking the city, but as soon as he caught that scent, he got up from his position, slipped his bow off his back and headed indoors. Natasha, who had been sitting next to him, followed, not asking any questions, as Clint’s reaction was enough to tell her that something was wrong. 

At first Clint wasn’t sure where he was going, he just ran, but when he approached the suite belonging to Thor, it all became very clear. It took only a couple of kicks to the door to break it open and he and Natasha rushed in only to come to a full stop at the sight before them. 

Steve was slumped on the floor, unconscious, and the figure cradling him wasn’t who either of them expected. It was impossible. Instinct took over and he let the arrow fly from the bow, aiming it directly for the heart. 

It would have struck if the hand hadn’t caught it easily. 

Clint could have gotten another shot off, but just as he reached for the arrow, his arm was grabbed and twisted and he was thrown across the room. Clint impacted the wall with a hard thud, he felt something snap in his shoulder, but the shooting pain that ran through his body wasn’t the foremost on his mind. 

“Tasha!” 

While the Black Widow was an exceptional fighter, she had skills that outmatched anyone he knew, there was no way she could last against this opponent. She could be killed.   
He looked up and immediately tried to swallow the fear retching up from his stomach when he saw her being lifted up by her throat. 

It would only take one twist and her neck would break. The evil smile was directed at Clint, it was all too clear that’s what was going to happen, but instead of a dead body being dropped to the floor, a heavy rush of wind ripped through the entire room and Natasha was dropped, but thankfully she was still alive, coughing and gasping for breath. 

Before Clint could make any kind of move towards her, the familiar boom of thunder filled the room. He was nearly blinded when Thor came through the hole he had made in the wall, wielding Mjolnir. Just because he was wearing pyjama bottoms, it didn’t make him look any less terrifying. Thor was ebbing with power and he wasn’t happy at all. 

His anger was potent. Clint could feel it. 

“What have you done?” Thor’s voice was deep enough anyway, but as he spoke, striding towards the intruder, each word he uttered boomed and shook the walls. “How can _you_ be here?” 

“Greetings, Odin’s son!” 

Clint frowned. He rubbed his eyes as a shimmer of green and gold finally showed him the truth. 

“Hail to the Heir to the throne of Asgard! I’m sorry I can’t stay and explain things, as much as I would love to, but I have to get going. I’ve got some very important things to do, taking over Asgard and violating your adorable human soldier plaything…you know, things like that.”

Clint didn’t know what happened after that, but he guessed that Thor went a little over the top. There was an almighty roar, a bellowing cry of _‘Heimdal!’_ and a crack, as if the very building was about to snap in two. 

Then it started raining inside. 

When it stopped only moments later, Clint looked up and saw Natasha as she approached him. There was no sign of Thor, of the intruder or Captain America. 

“That wasn’t him.” Natasha said, helping Clint to his feet. 

“It was him, Tasha. I know it, I could feel it. That was Loki.” 

 

\----------

 

“Hey! Where are you going?” 

The aftermath was a sorry sight. Stark tower was drenched, waterlogged and riddled with Thor-like holes in the walls, ceilings and floors. As much as it pained Tony to see his building crippled by a pissed off god, he along with Bruce and the others, were worried about their teammates and friends. Clint had a dislocated shoulder from the assault and he had managed to snap it back into place but it didn’t seem to bother him as much as Loki’s presence did. So when the three Asgardians began to head for the elevator, all the Avengers, including Barton, followed them. 

The Asgardians were worried, very worried, and that did not bode well in Tony’s mind. Hogun didn’t show it, but Tony guessed that he was just as alarmed as his comrades were. Before they could reach the elevator, Tony made a grab for Fandral’s arm. 

“I said, where are you going?” 

“We must return to Asgard, mortal. Thor has gone there to no doubt confirm that it was Loki who has kidnapped your friend.” 

“It may not have looked like him, I know it was him,” Clint said, fighting through the lingering pain in his shoulder. “I had that guy messing with me in my head…he controlled me and made me kill. It was him in that room with the Captain, with Steve, and he would have killed him if we hadn’t come along.” 

Fandral shook his head. 

“No?” 

“It’s not possible. For his crimes on your people, Loki was bound for eternity into the roots of the life tree! Once anyone is bound to Yggdrasil they cannot be released, only the tree can allow them to go free. If Loki is here then there is something gravely wrong and all of the nine realms, including Midgard, are in grave danger! We have to return to Asgard and address this matter at once!” 

“Then we’ll come along too,” Tony said, grabbing Banner’s arm, pulling him up close. “Take us to Asgard and let us help with Yiggie.”

“Yiggie?” The three warriors chorused with shock.

“Sorry, I meant the life tree! Thor is our friend too and so is Steve. We will do what we can to help get our team leader back. So do we have time to pack for the journey?” 

“You are mortal, humans,” Fandral replied, shaking his head. “This is Asgardian business and the Allfather will not care for your presence in our realm.” 

“Almost as much as we care for you being in ours,” Tony sighed. “Look, Steve is one of us, so that makes him and his safety our business. We’re going. Deal with it.” 

“It is not yours or our say so,” Hogun gruffly stated. “Only the Gatekeeper can decide to bring you to Asgard.”

“Can we ask him, pretty please with flowers and bells?” 

There was only one way to find out. The Gatekeeper was called to by his name then there was a blinding blue light and the Avengers were left standing, dazed and dripping wet in the ruins of Stark Tower. 

“I take it we’re not going then?” 

“No, Bruce, we’re not, but Fury is going to be seriously pissed when he finds out about all this.”


	7. Hurricane Jane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter of my story. I hope people will like this, the plot is moving on quite well now. Beta'd by my lovely Celeste who is so awesome. Any mistakes are all mine. 
> 
> Enjoy!

_The man from SHIELD was watching but he was utterly clueless._

_The mortals were trying to move her, using pitiful methods to pull her from the earth, but not one of them would be able to. No one of this Earth will move that hammer._

_Her mere presence on this world meant that her owner was here too and that was news he had been waiting for a long time. This was the perfect opportunity to end everything._

_He pulled the cell from his pocket and pressed speed dial. There was the sound of connection, but no voice answered. There didn’t need to be, he was the one who had to talk._

_“It’s Mjolnir. Thor must be near.”_

_There was no reply, but he didn’t need to have a response. He knew he had done well._

 

\--------

 

Heimdall didn’t stop Thor. He didn’t attempt to speak a single word to him. He wanted to, but when the boom of angry thunder sounded upon Thor’s arrival, he knew the younger man wouldn’t listen or have the time to talk. 

Heimdall observed Thor going deep beneath the dungeons, below the lowest caves of Asgard, and to the blackness and furthest reaches of Yggdrasil’s roots. The faint glimmer of light Thor held, as he made his way to where his brother was kept, helped the Guardian to see, and see he did. Thor’s anger, desperation and hurt appeared to twist and contort even more through the flickers of the flame that Heimdall eventually looked away. 

Any answer Thor would receive down there wouldn’t satisfy him, the truth and everything else would be nothing until the male mortal was back safely with him. The howling winds screamed out the crown prince’s anguish and the once gentle currents of the ocean began to swell to great heights, churning and crashing over the rainbow bridge. A biting sharp torrent of rain fell from dark clouds, shrouding the whole of Asgard beneath a storm. 

All the people knew that the first born of the Allfather was the cause of it. Heimdall could see some even praying for Thor. He found himself praying for Thor too.

“I should be there with him.” 

“And what would you do, my lady? What would you say that Yggdrasil could not?” 

“I would be there, as I have always pledged to be and as I have always been.”

Sif smiled, though it was sad as her smiles always had been ever since Thor met Jane Foster. Now a second mortal had gained Thor’s affections and it hurt just that bit more. Sif had always loved Thor; he had helped her through her change but their marriage wasn’t to be, he didn’t love her in the same way.

Sif accepted it. She never begrudged or hated him for not reciprocating, he was going to be King of Asgard and along with the Warriors Three, she would be by his side when he was. She would see him happy, even if it meant that she could not be. 

Heimdall never doubted Sif’s devotion and her loyalty to Thor that but what was happening between Thor and the male human wasn’t normal for Asgardians or mortals. She might not be able to do anything. She might be as helpless as the rest of them. 

 

\---------

 

_The cold powered bursts of the fire suppressor blasted and burned against Steve’s skin, but it didn’t suppress anything except for the fires the lightning had started around them._

_Steve could barely hold on, it was taking every ounce of his strength to keep his arms locked around Thor’s back, but he was breaking apart. He was ripped and bleeding, the pain was severe but the pleasure was even more so. The electrifying euphoric carnality was nothing he had ever expected. He didn’t want it to stop._

_Steve had no control and it seemed Thor didn’t have either, even though he was the one filling him and stretching him. It was beyond wild and hard, the raw power of Thor was invigorating and draining at the same time and it felt wonderfully insane. All of it._

_Steve begged Thor to keep going with breathless gasps of please, he grabbed and coiled his hands in the long wet strands of Thor’s hair and bucked against the larger man’s slamming thrusts as much as he could. It wasn’t enough, he needed more, he wanted more. Through the sounds of gushing water and the slapping of skin against skin, Steve heard Thor murmur Steve’s name, or what sounded like an alien version of his name, before Thor’s salivating mouth covered his in a possessive and impassioned kiss._

_For a brief moment, Thor stilled inside him. He kissed him whilst his hands roamed and clawed over Steve’s body. Steve responded and tugged hard on Thor’s hair which made him hiss, pull away and drop his head down against Steve’s neck where he purposely nuzzled his beard across his skin._

_A whisper of Asgardian words breathed and stammered in Steve’s ear, soft beautiful words trembled from Thor’s lips as his hand slipped between them and took hold of Steve’s aching cock. Thor stroked and squeezed the hard hot muscle; each run of his palm over Steve made him quiver and soon the beautiful words Thor whispered became a stream of dirty growling phrases moaning from his mouth. Steve didn’t need a translator to know what he was trying to say._

_Thor turned Steve onto his side, sliding a charged hand down over his hip. He lifted Steve’s leg, held it over the crook of his arm and angled himself before resuming his thrusts. Each arching roll of his hips made Thor grind against such a sweet spot that Steve gagged._

_He felt as if his skin was on fire. His eyes clenched shut, and the surging rise of his impending orgasm made him tense. Thor’s quickening pace became unbearable and Steve knew he wasn’t going to last. He tried to warn Thor, to let him know that he was going to come, but his voice could only produce stuttering whines._

_Seconds before Steve was going to spill, Thor, suddenly and very quickly, pulled out of him._

_Steve heard the sound of a scuffle and then a crash, Thor was no longer upon him, or in him. His orgasm died away, the moment was lost, not even his hand could finish him. He was shaking from shock._

_Steve couldn’t move and now he was very much aware of the freezing cold. The alarms of the hellicarrier were blaring through the speakers along with voices of all the SHIELD agents barking orders, whereas before Steve had never heard them. The carrier appeared to be out of control, it was rocking as if it was being buffeted by some fierce storm._

_Someone placed several towels around him, hands rubbed him to get him dry and warm again, and arms wrapped around him, but Steve didn’t think he was shivering because of the cold._

_He began to feel dizzy and sick._

_“Take it slow, Captain. Sit up…slowly.”_

_Steve sat up and when he blinked a couple of times, saw the devastation around him. The men’s showers were destroyed, except for the solitary one he and Thor had been under, which now only drizzled out cold water. He looked for Thor, he called out to him, but his head was still spinning and he couldn’t focus as well._

_“I’m here,” came a weary response. “Are you okay, Steven?”_

_Thor was curled up in the corner on the far side of the room, wrapped in towels too. He was shaking and there were still tendrils of electricity coursing over him, which were slowly fading and dying away. Steve looked down at his hands and saw that he too had the tendrils running over his skin, but they were not as vibrant._

_“I…I…don’t know…what happened?”_

_“It was my fault, I could not help myself…I’m sorry.”_

_“Hey! Focus, guys! Come back down to reality! ” Steve finally noticed Natasha. She had been the one holding him, but now she stood between him and Thor. She was wearing a towel, her red hair was darker and dripping wet and she had a gun pointed at Thor. Not that it would be any use against him. “Gentlemen…this is not appropriate shower room etiquette. Perhaps you might like to continue more in private?”_

_**“The storm has passed and we’re levelling out. Systems are returning to normal.”**_

_Agent Hill’s voice spoke calmly over the speakers and Steve could finally feel the carrier moving back to normal, though he wished he could return to normal as easy as pressing a few buttons on one of those computer things. He couldn’t stop shaking and the searing aches and pains in his body weren’t diminishing._

_The serum wasn’t working. He never felt this bad, not even the fight with the Chitauri had made him feel this bad._

_“What’s going on?”_

_Did he ask that? It didn’t sound like his voice. Sure enough, when Steve rubbed his eyes, there was Bruce, standing in the doorway, keeping back some of the other agents who were curious as well._

_“Nothing to see here, Bruce,” Natasha replied. “Keep them out. This is a personal matter that doesn’t concern them.”_

_“Okay…fine.” Bruce turned round to face the crowd, and even though he was shorter than most of them, when his hands curled into fists, they backed away pretty quickly. “Okay people, go back to work.”_

_There was a clang as the door to the men’s showers was shut._

_There was blackness. Emptiness._

_Thor wasn’t here._

 

\---------

 

He opened his eyes but there was a bright blinding light shining in his eyes. He could hear a humming and the sound of footsteps on a hard concrete floor. There were also the sounds of voices, but he couldn’t make out who they were or what they were saying. 

His body, wrists and ankles were bound by straps to something cold and metallic. Steve struggled against his restraints and the more he did the more he sweat and shook. An unusual panic overcame him, it riled up in his stomach and throat so he struggled even harder and nearly wrenched his shoulder out of his socket in doing so. 

There were more voices, now alerted to his regaining of consciousness, and the humming of machines stopped. It was eerie for it reminded him a little of when he had first become Captain America, but Erskine wasn’t here. His soothing and reassuring voice wasn’t distinguishable amongst the ones he could hear and neither could he hear Howard Stark bellowing at the techs to look after his equipment. 

“Hey!” Steve called out. He continued to struggle and he turned his head in the hope he could make something out of his surroundings. The light still blinded him, he couldn’t see anything. 

He tried again and again but his panic heightened even more when a rough pair of hands held his arm. There was a prick of a needle against his skin, but Steve couldn’t tell if his blood was being extracted or if something was being injected. 

“Stop! What are you doing?” 

He didn’t get a response.

 

\--------

 

_Steve couldn’t explain a thing, he was still shaking and Bruce had been nice enough to get him back to his room. He didn’t press Steve for information about him and Thor—even though he wanted to and kept coughing a lot—but Steve couldn’t tell him anything. He was still trembling and feeling very light headed. His ass ached, a lot of him ached, but there was a faint tingle of pleasure that still made him smile. His smile turned into a grin as he remembered Thor, his mouth and his hands…his cock so deep inside him… but that grin disappeared when the trembles became shakes, when cold shivers jolted down his spine._

_It had been his first time and while he hadn’t expected his first time to be with a man, or a powerful Norse god for that matter, Steve did have this sense, this feeling afterwards, that it couldn’t have been anyone else. Being with Thor was powerful, electrifying...dangerous and exciting. Thor was intoxicating, but despite the first time hindrances, it felt right. It was always supposed to be Thor with him and now being apart from Thor was making Steve anything but wonderful._

_Bruce said something about Steve running a temperature, despite being doused with the chilling foam of the fire suppressants. He also said that he looked as if he was suffering from some kind of withdrawal._

_“Don’t be ridiculous, I can’t suffer from anything like that, the serum makes it impossible. I’m fine.”_

_The lie was pretty evident, Bruce had said so and when Steve got ready to head back down to the mainland, he saw how flushed he looked in the mirror. His hands could barely button up his shirt, a shirt he had to change four times because his back and pits were sweating so much, and when he threw on his leather jacket, he saw his reflection in the mirror. He looked terrible._

_All he could think about was Thor._

_When the Avengers went to see Thor off back to Asgard, with Loki in custody, the sun shone brightly but a light breeze cooled Steve down and he felt mildly better. He couldn’t stop looking at Thor, for the man was magnificent, with his armour mended and clean, his hair and face free of the grime and blood, Thor looked radiant, godly and kingly._

_Steve felt himself brighten when Thor smiled softly at him and shook his hand. A light tingle, a pleasant reaction exchanged through their palms._

_Then he was gone._

\---------

 

“NO!” 

The rough hands lifted up from Steve’s body and were immediately replaced by a single soft palm that rested upon his chest. 

“It’s okay, Captain Rogers. Relax.” The woman’s voice was soothing and calm, but he couldn’t relax, he couldn’t. 

The light was turned off. Steve had to blink more than several times before the spots in his vision dissipated and he could see. Standing beside him was a woman with long brown silky hair framing a beautiful face. Warm brown eyes looked down at him and her thin delicate lips were curled up in a genuine and wonderful smile. 

“Hi. Please try to relax, don’t struggle. I’m going to undo the straps and sit you up. Okay?” 

The woman undid the rest of the straps and helped Steve sit up. He still couldn’t relax. His body was shaking, intense hunger pains wrenched in his stomach and a very embarrassing and aching hardness rose within his boxers. The woman’s smile turned to a smirk and placed a blanket over Steve’s lap. 

Steve looked at his surroundings. It was a lab, similar to the one Erskine had, circular with machines lining the walls, but it had a Tony Stark—not Howard—vibe to it. The machines looked more pristine and futuristic than even anything Tony had.

An eerie sense of deja-vu came over him, but what made it even worse was that he had no friends here. This woman, whoever she was, might be pleasant enough, but she wasn’t Peggy. 

Having gained more focus, Steve noticed a lot of people in white coats stationed all around the lab. One approached Steve with a syringe and instantly Steve became defensive. He slipped off the bed, stumbled on uneasy feet and moved around the metal bed which caused everyone else in the room to approach him too. 

There was something not quite right with the man or the others as they closed in around him. Their movements were strange, it was like they didn’t care that Steve could hurt them or attack them; sure he didn’t have his shield, but Steve could easily defend himself if need be. 

Upon closer scrutiny he saw their eyes were an impossible bright blue, just like Barton’s had been when he had been turned. Mind control? Had Loki enslaved these people? 

“Don’t! Stay back!” Steve warned “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to. Stay back!” 

The brunette stood in front of him, holding out her hands to the others in an effort to keep them back. She was not like them, she wasn’t under the influence of Loki’s spell, but Steve did wonder why she was helping him. She turned to face Steve and smiled, gently stroking at his bare shoulder. 

“I’m sorry, Captain…I know this is overwhelming for you, you’re disoriented and clearly not well. Your vitals are erratic. Your heart rate is up and your temperature too… but if you don’t calm down, breathe deep, it will only make your situation worse. If you will allow them to take some samples of your blood…?”

“What the hell do they want with my blood?” 

“I don’t know, Captain, but it’s best you let them or they will take it by force.”

The woman’s smile saddened, she looked around at the lab, towards the double doors at the far end of the room, as if she was expecting someone else to walk through them, and then back to Steve, apologetic and shamed. 

“Captain Rogers, I can’t tell you where you are because I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on, except that you are of great interest to whoever is running this place. The serum that made you Captain America is vital to them and they have been running tests on you ever since you got here.” 

“I can tell you exactly why I’m here. Loki.”

The woman recoiled. “We’re here because we know Thor…Loki is getting to Thor through us.”

For the first time since waking up here, Steve managed to smile, even if it was a bittersweet one, and he took hold of the woman’s hand. He had never seen a picture of her before, but he knew who she was now. 

“You’re Jane Foster…aren’t you?” 

Her smile warmed somewhat, and she squeezed Steve’s hand. 

“I’m sorry, Captain. I really am.” 

 

\----------------------

 

**You should not be here, Allfather’s son.**

He couldn’t understand the runes that formed upon and scrolled around the black oozing roots. Thor knew that Yggdrasil was trying to talk to him, but he, like most AEsir, could never comprehend the actual words. Thor might have been able to get a sense on the life tree’s emotions it projected, but his mind was too clouded. 

**Now is not your time to be here. You are in chaos! Leave! Leave or you will be consumed!**

Thor made his way through the endless cave tunnels, he passed the few other prisoners—those deemed too dangerous to be held anywhere else—still hanging and gagged by the roots, he saw some disappear as they were swallowed into the blackness covering the walls, but he could not find Loki. More runes slithered along the fleshy tendrils, the air became thick with so many emotions, still Thor could not distinguish between his own or Yggdrasil’s. Every second he spent looking for Loki and not finding him, made Thor more and more anxious. 

**You will not find your Jotun here! Leave!**

“Loki!” Thor bellowed and his voice echoed through the tunnels and he heard a small chorus of ghostly moans in return. Thor waved the flame torch around to try and spot Loki in amongst all the roots, but he still had no luck. His patience was wearing thin, his bare feet were getting cut on the stony ground, but he wasn’t going to stop. “You have to be here, Loki! This is where you should be! Yggdrasil, do not hide him! I command you to show me my brother! Show me that you have not set him loose! ” 

**Allfather!**

“Thor!” 

The torch was wrenched from Thor’s grasp. He turned suddenly and there standing behind him was his father, gripping tightly at his staff with his other hand. Odin looked at Thor with his one eye, disapproving the lack of clothing his son was wearing in such a harsh climate, disapproving in general at what Thor was doing. 

“Yggdrasil does not want you here, my son. Respect the world tree’s wishes and go.” 

“Father, the man I love has been taken!” Thor dismissed Odin’s grimace when he mentioned ‘love’ and carried on, “I must talk to Loki. He has to tell me where Steven is!” 

“Ah! You and your obsession with these mortals confounds me. It is not love you feel for either of them, it can never be love with them.” 

“You are wrong, father.” 

“No! It is you who are mistaken! You are so infatuated, easily swayed by their unimportant short and fleeting lives. Their physiology is not strong enough to endure ours. The priests who have dedicated their lives to Yggdrasil cannot bind mortals to our kind. Humans have no power!” 

“Humans have great power! How can you say such things? You’ve not visited Midgard in centuries! They’ve become so much more!”

“Enough! Your sentiments towards the two humans are blinding you to what really matters! You are ill, changed and in no fit state to be dealing with your brother. I will speak with Loki.” 

“Father! Please!” 

“I will not repeat myself, boy! Go!” 

Odin gave Thor back the torch. For a moment Thor stood frozen to the spot and made no effort to move, but he knew that his father was right. If he confronted Loki now, there was no telling what he would do. 

 

\-----------

 

Mere seconds after Thor and the three Warriors of Asgard left, JARVIS immediately informed them of an incoming—urgent and top priority—call. Tony didn’t need to know who it was, it was pretty evident. 

_“What the hell is going on, Stark? We’ve detected some strange energy readings coming from New York and Stark Tower…specifically Tesseract energy readings!”_

“It’s Loki, Director Fury,” Tony replied, as he and Pepper led the other Avengers down to his lab. When they reached there, he checked over the holographic damage readouts and the displays JARVIS projected. “He’s somehow gotten past my security—!”

_“Again, my apologies, sir.”_ JARVIS butted in.

“Not your fault, JARVIS…he’s somehow gotten past my security and he’s taken the captain.” 

_“What?”_ Fury really wasn’t happy at hearing that. 

“Loki is back and he’s taken the captain,” Tony repeated slowly and loudly, knowing Fury hadn’t misheard, but feeling better for making the Director feel like an idiot anyway. He could image the look on Nick Fury’s face at that comment, because Pepper was making a similar one.

_“So, Loki is back. Asgardian security and justice must be piss poor if he’s been let loose,”_ Fury sighed. _“Where’s Thor?”_

“He’s gone to Asgard to try and get some answers.”

_“Stark…Captain America is not the only one who has been taken, though quite why Loki chose to take him I’m not sure, but SHIELD had a call from Doctor Selvig a couple of days ago saying that Jane Foster has gone missing.”_

“Jane is missing too?” asked Bruce, stunned at hearing this.

“Why didn’t you tell Thor about this?” Pepper protested. “Why didn’t you tell us?” 

_“I already put my next best team on the case, Miss Potts. They’re looking for Foster right now. I didn’t contact you because Selvig requested us not to…though why was Captain Rogers singled out?”_

Tony and the others weren’t going to explain about the new relationship between Thor and Steve. That was something Fury could fret over later. 

“We don’t know,” Natasha said, lying perfectly as she always did. “It might be he was singled out because he’s the leader of the Avengers? We’ll find out.” 

_“Good, I want you guys and Thor to find Loki ASAP! I will not have another one of their squabbles screwing up this planet. I’ll get my team to come to Stark Tower, with Doctor Selvig, and you can co-ordinate the search for Foster and Rogers. Find them, Avengers…find them before Loki fucks everything up again.”_

The call ended and that was that. Tony was pleased Fury didn’t ask any more questions, and so he instructed JARVIS to piece together what happened. 

_“The privacy protocols only allow for so much,”_ JARVIS stated, as the holograms in the air changed and were replaced with an image of Thor’s room. Steve was asleep and Thor was walking out of the door. Mjolnir followed a few moments later. _“We can see Thor leaving. Five minutes after a registration of what I can now confirm to be a power spike similar to the Tesseract, he returns.”_

“How did you not register the Tesseract power surges, JARVIS?” asked Tony. 

_“My remaining functioning self-diagnostic scans indicate specific sensors were disabled approximately 30 minutes before the intruder entered. The electrical and weather damage caused by Thor is making it even more difficult, but I should have a more comprehensive report for you later. I have managed to capture the image of the intruder.”_

“Show us please, JARVIS,” said Pepper. 

A crackling broken hologram of Thor’s face appeared in the air. There were shimmers of green and gold and then there was a woman, with long blonde hair. 

“Er…that’s not Loki.” Bruce said pointing as if the others couldn’t see the obvious. 

“It is Loki. I know it.” Barton approached the hologram and with a gesture of his hands he zoomed in on the face of the intruder. “It’s him. How many people do you know can change form and magically create duplicates of themselves?”

“Okay…so Loki changed into a woman from Steve’s past. That’s unexpected.” 

“Or it’s simply a guise of Loki’s own creation,” Tony added, walking around the hologram. “Loki may be _‘Pinky and the Brain’_ crazy for trying to take over the world, but you’ve got to hand it to him…he does have style. She’s hot.” 

Pepper looked at Tony with a stunned expression on her face to which he replied by mouthing _“what?”_

“That is Loki, Tony. Really?” 

“Just stating fact, that form is rocking.” 

“When Steve saw _‘her’,”_ Clint continued over the mini argument Tony and Pepper decided to have, “he recognised her, he was shocked.” 

“So Steve met Loki as this woman back in the forties?” Natasha asked. 

“That’s more plausible. Okay, we need to find out what Loki was doing back then.” Tony sighed, “Where’s a thunder god when you need him?” 

“It’s likely Loki took on this form to infiltrate the project,” Bruce added walking up to the enlarged picture, “though why would he be interested in Erskine’s serum, I don’t know. There could be references or pictures of her in the classified files. I could even look at some of my own background research.” 

_“I’m already going the SSR’s records, Doctor Banner, as well as your own,”_ JARVIS confirmed. _“It may take me longer than usual because of the damage.”_

Tony nodded, approving of the AI’s methods. “Do what you can, JARVIS.”

“I’ll work with Happy on the repairs,” Pepper said. “It might help speed things up.” 

Tony liked that and allowed Pepper to go about doing so. She left the lab as she made a phone call to Hogan. Now all they needed to do was wait for JARVIS to find something and for the arrival of the SHIELD team and Doctor Selvig. 

Tony hoped that it wasn’t going to take too long. He hoped that Thor would find out some answers too and he’d come back to help them. Tony also hoped that he would be in a condition to help.

“Well there is one good thing,” Bruce said as the four of them made themselves as comfortable as possible in the cluttered lab. 

“Yeah?” 

“At least it’s stopped raining.” 

 

\----------

 

As Thor stood in the rain he was creating, the people of Asgard were running through the streets to get out of the downpour. The storm was not like anything he had conjured up before, not even as a boy, but it roared on, fuelled by Thor’s anger.

Mjolnir was by his feet, protesting as much as the people were. Her normally gentle hums and soft vibrations were screeching desperately, as if she was in pain. Maybe she was, because Thor definitely was. 

His feet were cut and bleeding, but that pain was nothing to the constriction in his chest, or to the splitting pain in his head and the stinging in his eyes. His anger only made it all worse, it intensified into rage directed at Loki and at everyone else…including himself, for not doing more to find Steve. 

Thor continued to stand upon the balcony and watched as his chaotic emotions battered his beloved home. The two trees on either side of the arc were bending in the strong wind and their branches whipped at Thor’s face, marking red lines across his cheeks. He didn’t care. He stayed there until everything was numb. The pain was now an emptiness and numbness that was just as bad. He needed Steve, but why did Steve mean more to him? Why had Jane? 

They were not AEsir, they were not long lived and were genetically incompatible with Asgardians. There was no lasting future with them. Steve and Jane would grow old, sooner than Thor ever would. They would die long before Thor and the years of living without them, of having to mourn them was too much to bear. 

He should forget about them and commit his life to Sif as he should have done, but Thor didn’t want to. He loved Sif like a sister and as a very dear friend; their marriage would not be what it should. It would be a facade. Thor had loved others in his thousands of years of being alive, but what made Jane and Steve so different? Thor had barely known either of them yet they were able to enamour him, evoke emotions and desires in him no other Asgardian could. 

Ever since Thor met Jane, he had been drawn to her by her beauty, goodness and intelligence; by her bravery, her smile and how she made him feel warm and youthful just by being near her. He was infatuated with her, awed by her. He was so smitten and head over heels about her…Jane was wonderful and there was nothing he wouldn’t do for her, but there was guilt. He felt so guilty and torn for not seeing her, talking to her upon his return...he didn't know how he could explain his feelings about Steve and what they had become. 

Steve was different from Jane. Steve was everything Thor thought a man should be and what Thor wanted to be and to have. Steve was handsome and so beautiful to Thor. He was brave, and true, sweet when he was shy or confused and powerful, dangerous when wrathful. Steve was worthy of great loyalty and devotion, the man was a good soul, virtuous. Thor needed to be by Steve’s side, to provide his support and love. When Thor touched him though, when he kissed him or was inside of him, it was an incredible high, one he didn’t want to come down from.

But he was falling. Badly. 

Perhaps Thor had been too hasty in returning to Asgard, foolish in thinking that Loki would so easily tell him what he needed to know. Perhaps he should have remained on Earth and helped the others to find Steve. 

“Thor…come out of the rain. My son…please.” 

His mother’s voice broke him out of his thoughts and eventually Thor walked back under the arch. He turned slowly. His blank and empty eyes didn’t acknowledge his mother’s presence or his friends, so he leaned against the wall of the arch and pulled his soaking wet hair from the tie. He ran clawing fingers through the tangled knots and wiped the drops of water from his face and then Thor began to shake. The cold was now breaking through his numbness, the pain was coming back. 

Several warm blankets were wrapped around him and his mother hugged him tightly. 

“This isn’t right, Thor. This is not you…your wounds are not healing as they should.” 

Thor looked down at his feet and then at the blood merging with the rain on ground. After the Chitauri battle, when Thor had returned home he hadn’t been the same. All the injuries he received in battle had taken longer to heal. 

“Come with me.”

Thor didn’t resist. He allowed Frigga to take hold of his hand and slowly lead him inside. There was a vague recollection of her doing the same thing when he first made his connection to Mjolnir. The discovery of such a strong bond between him and the hammer came about with a similar storm but thankfully Mjolnir was able to temper the growing boy, to a point. 

Frigga had bundled him up and taken him to see Eir but there was nothing the Healer could do, so Frigga had taken Thor back to his room and made him some warm nectar tea. Frigga had done what she could to help him adjust to Mjolnir and soothe a raging, out of control boy.

Would she be able to help him again? Unless she could find Steve, Thor really doubted it. 

It appeared that his mother knew what was going through his mind. 

“I understand, Thor. This must be so confusing and frightening for you. You can’t help who you fall in love with and I know you do dearly love your mortals, as they do you. What you’re displaying are signs of the change, it should be making you happier not turning you into this empty shell of a man. This is not the Thor I know…come with me to see Eir and perhaps we can find some answers.”

“What I need, mother, is to find Steve. Loki has to tell what he knows.” 

“Thor…we will find this Steve, but first can you at least indulge a mother and her wishes and come to the Healing tower?” 

Thor nodded even though every part of his body was screaming again and was aching to get away from here. 

The Healing tower was a place that Thor had come to often during his life. The golden greens and reddish browns were soothing to the eyes and the branches of Yggdrasil grew within the walls and imbued a sweet fragrant and soothing scent of apples in the air. 

As soon as they came through the doors, two of Eir’s helpers welcomed them and escorted them with some Einherjar to the Soul Forge. The healers assisted Thor down on the table and Eir herself activated the device to scan his body. 

“My lady, Frigga…” The look of utter bewilderment on Eir’s face, only seconds into the scan, was more than enough for concern. Thor looked up at the image of his body and saw darker black shades amongst the hues of red and orange. He didn’t understand what it meant, but he knew it was wrong. “This…this cannot be right.” 

Frigga was shaking her head, her eyes wide with shock as she looked at the displays above Thor. She was denying what was so clearly being shown to her. 

“Mother? What…what is it?”

Frigga didn’t look at Thor, she only squeezed his hand with hers, crushing his fingers intensely. She turned and cried an order out to the Einherjar nearby. 

“Summon the All father! Get him here now! Hurry!” 

 

\-------

 

“I’m sorry? Why are you--!”

A sharp crack of knuckles impacted with Steve’s face. The blow was so hard that he spun, blood spewed from his mouth, and he crashed to the floor. Steve lay there, dazed for a moment, as his mind tried to fathom what the hell just happened, but he got a boot straight to his stomach. 

“You’re sorry? _Really?”_ Jane Foster’s voice screamed with spite and hatred. As Steve coughed, he fought against the pain she had booted to him and saw her beautiful face twisted into rage. “Do you think I didn’t know? Do you think I was completely unaware of Thor’s return? That I wouldn’t find out what you and he have become? What you’ve done with him?” 

“Jane! It’s not…” 

She kicked him again and Steve cried out. He didn’t have any chance to recover as he was hauled back up to his feet by two other scientists. Steve sagged and stumbled in their hold but they wouldn’t let him fall. Steve coughed, spat some more blood and lifted his head to look into Jane’s eyes. There were no blue tinges of the Tesseract or Loki’s influence. 

This was all her. 

He had never imagined that Jane could be so angry as to resort to this, to siding with Loki. 

Even though he was being held by the enslaved scientists, they were still normal humans and so they didn’t have the strength that Steve did. With a couple of hard wrenching twists, a kick to some shins and a knee to a groin, Steve got himself free and simultaneously knocked the two men out by slamming their heads into the metal bed. 

Before anyone else could take another shot at subduing him, Steve grabbed hold of Jane. He grasped tightly on her arms and kept them pinned at her sides, controlling her even though she struggled and tried to lash out. Seeing her so angry—at him—only added to the wretched guilt he was feeling. He faltered a little, allowing Jane to head butt him. 

Steve kept his hold on her despite the blow, he stayed firm through the dizziness ringing in his head. 

“Listen to me, please. I’m sorry! Jane…I’m so sorry but we have to get away from here, we can’t let Loki do this to us, or Thor!” 

“Sorry doesn’t cut it, soldier boy.” 

_Oh my god…_

Steve’s hands dropped away from Jane, who pushed him back, but she wasn’t the one who had surprised him. It was the blonde woman standing in the doorway.

The woman, like him, hadn’t aged a day. 

“Lorraine?” 

 

\---------

 

He fell to the floor with a big wet thump. 

His skin still felt like it was crawling with the roots, but as he wiped the black ooze from his eyes, he smiled a wide grin. He was free. Yggdrasil had released him.

Now how did that happen? 

A blanket covered his naked body and he curled it around him as he slowly sat up. 

“I should have known it was you.” Loki sighed and turned his head to the roots, watching them retract to the wall. He coughed and spat the black ooze from his mouth and addressed his new visitor, “Thor would never have been so convincing. So, All-father, how did you manage to talk the great world tree into letting me go?” 

Odin wasn’t going to answer him, he knew that. The All-father wasn’t here to discuss his sway with Yggdrasil. 

“Ask me then, dear father, what it is you wish to know,” Loki slicked back his hair and bowed his head at the old man, “and I shall reply.”

With the aid of his staff, Odin knelt down next to Loki. Odin groaned a little under the strain, but kept any further displays of discomfort or frailty locked behind his usual stoic mask. 

“What you and that woman are doing to Thor, it stops now, Loki. She was banished for a reason and I could do the same to you.”

“Would you? Really? What would mother say?” 

“Loki, I will not indulge you in these childish games. Stop this, stop what trick or plot of revenge you and your partner have against your brother and Yggdrasil will allow you to remain the rest of your days in a cell.” 

Thousands of years in a cell…hmm. It was much better than being here, decaying slowly as the roots sapped at your life force. Being in the cells of Asgard would be perfect. 

“Very well. I’ll stop,” Loki cleared his throat, indicating quite clearly that there was a ‘however’ to this statement, “ _however_ I cannot stop Amora from doing anything. She’s planned this all herself.”


	8. Sub Zero Temperatures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They know who to stop, but will Avengers, Asgardians and Agents of SHIELD be able to?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been so long since I updated this story and I apologise. It was mainly due to me doing a Big Bang fic (which got put on hold too) and so many other factors that I'm not going to go into. I wanted to get this done, but it's not beta'd... so I hope that those who are still interested will enjoy.
> 
> \------

She wasn’t wearing the dark brown uniform he’d seen her in last. 

A long green laced dress clung to a curvy body. It covered up very little except the nipples on her breasts and the small v between her legs. Curls of long blonde hair bounced around her shoulders as she walked towards him. She wasn’t a mere Private in the SSR, or Phillips’ aide anymore but it was her. She was the same woman who had shown her gratitude to Captain America with a long and deep kiss… in front of Peggy. There was no mistaking her. 

It was the woman who he had seen moments before he had passed out in Thor’s room. 

Steve let go of Jane and turned to the woman who he’d known only as Lorraine, as she stood in front of him with the same sly smile upon her lips. He tried to struggle when two of the enslaved scientists grabbed hold of his arms. 

“Captain Rogers,” Lorraine held out a hand and gently stroked it across his chest. “How wonderful it is to see you again. You have been treated well, I hope?” 

“Not really,” Steve replied. He tried to be defiant and strong but even with his arms held behind his back and with the weakened state he was in, it was difficult. “You can cut the charade, Loki… you don’t need to pretend with me.” 

The woman smiled. 

“I’m not Loki, soldier boy, but thanks to the naughty little trickster, I will be leaving here soon. I am Amora of Asgard and I am so _sick_ of this world. You and Jane Foster are going to help me get what I want.”

“What do you want?” Steve asked begrudgingly.

“I want what any woman wants. The god of her dreams and the throne to the Nine Realms! Is that too much to ask?” 

\------- 

 

_She wasn’t picked to be his betrothed. Instead the warrior girl was chosen instead. Amora never minded at the time, but when she went through her change, she did. She minded a whole lot. Thor Odinson would be the King of Asgard one day and to become his Queen would put her in a great position of power._

_Power was everything and so Thor was._

_When Thor didn’t carry out the bond with Sif, there was a chance for her and so Amora was able to work her charm. The first time, she didn’t need any of her sorcery or bewitchment. Thor willingly spent a night in her bed and it was a night she never forgot. The sex was powerful and far better than what she had with her other partners. Amora loved it, Thor did too and he treated her wonderfully afterwards. He treated her like the Queen she knew she could and would be._

_She said she wanted to be bonded to him, that she would willingly be his wife and be mother to his future children, but Thor didn’t want to have a Queen. It wasn’t what he was looking for in his life. He didn’t want to be bound to anyone… so he ended it between them._

_He ended it with all the kindness he had, his regret was real and sincere. However, Amora wasn’t going to have no as an answer. She used her enchantments to bewitch him back into her bed. She genuinely thought she would only need to use it once, that Thor would change his mind, but he did not. So she bewitched him again and again, caring not that it was against Thor’s will and that she was driving herself and her sister further apart._

_It was Sif who found out. She was beyond furious and demanded Amora to end her enchantments and right Thor back to his normal self. Sif told Amora to face the consequences of her actions, but Amora never listened. She didn't want to listen. Nothing was going to stop her from getting the throne, from getting Thor and the power she deserved. When Sif informed the Allfather and the spell on Odin’s son wore off, Thor was not happy either. He was livid._

_Amora was banished to Midgard and spent many years of figuring out how to get back home._

_She got some help._

 

\-------

 

The wraps of bandages were wound around his feet and while that may have helped with his bleeding soles, Thor’s ever increasing anxiety and worry over his condition, wasn’t helped when his mother and Eir refused to answer his questions. 

His father had been called for and when Thor saw Odin walk through the archway, he bolted up right. Before he could say anything, protest or ask of anything, Odin put up his hand. The Allfather didn’t want to be bombarded with many different voices. 

“Frigga… tell me what is it that ails my son?” 

Frigga could barely speak through her worry. “He’s dying, Odin, but we cannot find the cause of it.”

“What?” Odin was not one for expression, but the fear was immediate in his eye, it sounded in his voice and showed as he rushed to Thor’s side, took hold of his hand and placed his other upon Thor’s bearded cheek. 

Thor couldn’t say anything. He looked at his father and watched as the concern turned to shock and surprise… then fear. The contact with his father was a first in a long while and the calloused fingers and wrinkling skin of the Allfather felt strange against his face. 

“His life force is weakening.” Odin murmured, pulling away. 

“There are clear signs of the change. His overall body temperature is running a fever just like any 100 year old Aesir would,” Frigga explained “Thor is an adult, he shouldn’t be going through this again, Odin. It’s not physically possible!”

“But he is going through it and it is endangering his life.” Odin bent down and picked up Mjolnir. The hammer protested at first, she throbbed and screeched in Odin’s hold, but she calmed when Odin brought up his son’s hand and placed it on her handle. Odin covered his hand over Thor’s and felt the substantial ease that came over the younger man. 

He could still feel the turmoil inside Thor and the weather outside wasn’t letting up. The life in his son was waning and he felt so helpless. 

“Father…” 

Odin dropped his hand away and beckoned for the young healers to carry on bandaging Thor’s feet. 

“The changes we go through at that age are not life threatening, so why is it happening for Thor?” Frigga asked. “How could it be killing him?” 

“Unfortunately the only ones who know the answer are Amora and Loki,” Odin gruffly replied, as he headed for the door, “this is the doing of some kind of enchantment on her half. Loki has told me what he knows and where to find Amora, even though she has kept herself hidden from Heimdall all this time. I will have the Warrior Three go back to Midgard immediately to retrieve her.”

“I will go too, father.” Thor got up from the forge and winced but Frigga helped him with a supportive hold. “Tell me where Amora has gone, where she is keeping Steven and…”

“Enough! I will hear no more of this man… there will be no talk of you going anywhere in your state. I will have you here, where the healers can look after you. Your friends and the Lady Sif will be more than able to deal with Amora.”

“Heimdall can bring me back in a matter of seconds if anything goes wrong, father! With my friends around me, I will be more than fine. Please, let me do this. I have to find Steven as soon as possible, I need to know if he is all right!” 

Odin turned and scowled. “I said no! Your health and well-being is what matters, not this mortal, or any of them! I should never have allowed you to go back to that world.” 

The boom of thunder was louder than anything Thor had produced before. 

The golden colours and the light of the healing tower was reduced to darkness as the sky blackened and swelled with big thick storm clouds. The winds stopped and the temperature dropped to sub-zero, quite suddenly. The dramatic change was enough to frighten most people here, but what stopped Odin in his tracks and what made him take a few spaces backwards, was the blackness in Thor’s eyes and the ripples of lightning coming from him and Mjolnir. 

“I am going to find him, father.” Thor’s voice was more deafening than the storm he was manipulating. “Captain Rogers is not just any mere mortal and I will not sit idly by and let Amora use him for her means. Don’t get in my way.” 

“Odin! Please, let him do this.” 

If it weren’t for Frigga’s gentle pleading, Odin might have stood in Thor’s way, but he stepped aside and watched his son stride out of the room, his fury and determination igniting the air with a potent energy that had Odin extremely nervous. 

 

\-------

 

“Have you ever thought of redecorating, Stark?” 

The man before him shouldn’t be here. 

The last time Tony saw him was on the helicarrier. Tony had offered to help him see his cellist, he was willing to fly him to his lady friend…Tony would have done anything to help this man find happiness after everything he’d done. 

He was supposed to be dead. 

Agent Phil Coulson was here, standing next to Doctor Erik Selvig and in front of a group of Shield Agents that looked a little… odd. The tall dark haired young man and the Asian woman were clearly Op Agents, but the couple standing near Selvig were barely containing their excitement. 

Scientists. Probably have never been out in the field much. 

Then there was the young dark haired woman next to Coulson. There was something about her… besides how hot she looked… there was something different. 

But for Tony, for Bruce and the others… seeing Phil Coulson alive and well was a shock, like a kick to the stomach. 

“Fury had his reasons for not telling you all about my status.” Coulson said, matter-of-factly. 

“I’m sure he did.” Tony tried to keep the spite out of his voice and the scowl from his face, but he just couldn’t. Coulson as usual nodded politely and appeared to be the no-nonsense agent who had once threatened to taze the billionaire. 

“I wish I knew what they were, but I don’t, Stark. Only a handful of people were allowed to know that I was still alive.” 

“We weren’t any of them.” Barton chided. “Thanks, Boss.” 

“My being very much not dead anymore is not the issue at this moment in time. Jane Foster is missing and Fury mentioned that something has gone wrong with Thor?” 

“He’s back on Asgard at the moment.” Natasha said. “The Warrior Three said that he’s going through a transition that frankly shouldn’t be happening. It’s connected to a mating bond of some kind, but according to them, it can’t happen with humans.” 

“Is this mating bond anything like Spock’s Ponn Farr?” The small Scottish scientist piqued up. Everyone looked at him. “You know? From Star Trek? Thor’s thing could be like Spock’s… a chemical imbalance that can only be cured by being connected to a mate? Or a battle to the death?” 

“Fitz! Thor is not a Vulcan… however you could be right on his condition being an imbalance… of some kind. We don’t know anything about Asgardian physiology, besides no one here is going to battle Thor to the death! That’s ridiculous!” The English woman laughed at that ludicrous idea, but it trailed off to a nervous chuckle. “Right?”

The lack of response from anyone showed that it was a possibility they all thought about, but didn’t want to address. That they might have to fight against Thor. 

“So, what set this transition off?” asked the woman called Skye. 

“That’ll be Steve.” Tony said, sighing as if everyone should have known it was Steve. 

“Steve? As in, Captain Steve Rogers? Captain America?! They’re…?” 

“Doing it?” Tony smirked. “Yup. They’re doing it a lot. We were all surprised… except Natasha. Thor came back from Asgard and like a caveman, slung our beloved Cap over his shoulder and took him to his lair where for the past…couple of weeks has been ravaging him…” 

“Tony.” Bruce sighed and shook his head in dismay. 

“What? Oh, I’m sorry!” No he wasn’t. “Does that bother you? That the god of our dreams is gay? That sweet blonde super serum Captains are his thing?” 

“No it doesn’t bother me! Could you just tone things down and focus on the real problem, which is finding Steve and Jane?” 

“Yes… well… Jane… Jane was alone working on a new theory.” Selvig stammered, then cleared his throat before he carried on. “Darcy and I popped out for some food and when we returned, she was gone. No sign of a struggle, nothing. If she goes off chasing answers, she usually leaves a note or a message on my cell…” 

So calling Shield was the next obvious step for Selvig. The three of them worked closely with the organisation, they got all the perks—the tech and resources—so it made sense. 

“Doctor Selvig contacted Shield and you came a-running back from the dead?” asked Tony. 

“For Jane. For Thor. At least that’s what we thought…but…” Coulson was cut off in mid-sentence when an explosion of blue Tesseract light ignited outside. 

Immediately, Clint, Natasha and the two other Ops agents darted for the exit, but it took for the skies to darken and the howling wind and rain to commence for the rest of the Avengers to follow. 

Cautiously they stepped out onto the street, but the wind and rain was powerful, raging and angry, that the civilians and even the Avenger’s themselves were trying to keep sheltered. What surprised them even more, was that the Warrior Three and a female Asgardian were keeping back too, drenched and sodden by the rain Thor was creating. 

Thor was in the midst of it all. His bloodied wet feet weren’t even touching the ground. Tony thought he was something out of the Exorcist for Thor was a man possessed as he floated through the storm as if it wasn’t there, looking and searching for something, or someone. 

“What the hell is going on?!” 

“I don’t know, Ward.” Barton yelled back in response. “This is a whole new level of shit hitting the fan!” 

Then Thor stopped and looked up at the sky. He breathed a long deep breath and his whole body jerked. Flashes of lightning lit up the block and the thunder that followed reverberated through the ground. Thor disappeared. He flew up into the black clouds and was gone. A few seconds later, there were clear and sunny skies. Four very soggy Asgardians approached the group, their faces sombre. 

“We know where Captain Rogers and Lady Foster are being kept,” said Fandral, “we must go after Thor immediately.” 

There wasn’t going to be any argument about that. 

“May, get the jet going.” Coulson ordered. May nodded and was already running back into the building with Ward, Clint and Natasha. 

“We must be prepared for battle,” Sif said. “We are not dealing with Loki, but someone just as powerful and someone who means to take over Asgard and subjugate Thor for her own means.”

“Oh. That sounds like fun.” 

 

\---------

 

The destruction of the Bifrost created chaos in the Nine Realms. There was no time for Thor to grieve as marauders, pillagers and mercenaries began a rampage through the worlds, breaking the peace that had lasted thousands of years. He fought with the Warriors Three, with Sif and the Einherjar warriors, against these fiends, but he fought with a heavy heart, lacking the zeal and spirit he usually had in battle. 

However, when he returned from Midgard, with Loki in chains, Thor was unsettled. He went back out again to regain the peace Loki had wrecked, but this time he was ferocious and unrelenting. His powers became unpredictable as Thor pushed himself to his limits. Everyone noticed it. 

He was doing too much. Thor even nearly ended up hurting those on his own side. 

To have the Crown Prince ordered by the Allfather to take some leave, was a blow to all. Thor didn’t want to go but in the end he agreed when Odin said he could return to Midgard. 

The power of the Tesseract sent Thor back to Earth. He didn’t know how long he was going to be able to stay, but he was pleased for the opportunity. Thor was drawn to one place… he felt it was the only place to go, but in the chaos of his feelings he opted for another. 

Jane Foster deserved to know he was back. Thor wanted to see her and explain why he had not returned for her, but with heavy heart he was going to explain to her why he wasn’t going to remain with her now. Fortunately (or unfortunately) when he saw her… he couldn’t approach. 

She was happy. She was with this other guy… on a date… and she looked so happy. Why should he get in the way of such happiness? Thor never knew that she had seen him as he walked away, he never saw the look of sadness on her face. 

 

\---------- 

 

“You know, and thank you, by the way, for listening. There's just something about getting it off my chest and putting it out there in the atmosphere instead of holding this in. I mean, this is what gets people sick, you know? Wow, I had no idea you were such a good listener. To be able to share all of my intimate thoughts and my experiences with someone, it just cuts the weight of it in half, you know. It's like a snake swallowing its own tail. Everything comes full circle. And...and the fact that you've been able to help me process...”

Bruce woke suddenly, disorientated at first but when he saw Tony looking at him he felt a pang of guilt. Oh no, he had fallen asleep. 

“So, uh...?” 

“You with me?” asked Stark.

He wasn’t quite. 

“I was, yeah. Mm-hmm. We were...uh, we were at, uh...” 

“You actively napping?” 

There was no point in lying.

“I... I was... I... I... I drifted.” 

“Where did I lose you?”

“Elevator in Switzerland.” 

“So you heard none of it?”

Oh god he was going to pay. 

Bruce hoped that Tony was going to be at least a little bit forgiving.

There was no chance of that. 

Tony smiled and he began to talk once more. “You know what? Now that I think about it, oh, God, my original wound. 1983, alright?” 

“Yes.” Bruce groaned. 

“I'm 14 years old, I still have a nanny? That was weird.” 

Thankfully, Tony never got the chance to tell his whole life story again, as the sky outside turned black and thunder boomed a deafening crash. Tony and Bruce jumped up to their feet and looked at one another with grins on their faces. There was only one person who was responsible for such a drastic change in the weather. 

“He’s back.” Tony said. “Want to go and greet him?” 

“Oh yes!” Bruce’s enthusiasm gained him a momentary scowl from Stark. 

“Really… was I that boring?”

“Thor’s back!” Bruce grinned as sincerely as he could and headed for the elevator, with Tony following him, shaking his head, tutting and smiling with amusement.

When they reached the lobby, Clint and Natasha were already there to greet the Asgardian as he came striding through the front doors with Pepper by his side. 

Thor was dressed in his usual armour, yet he was worn from battle. Grime covered his face and caked his hair, he was physically tired but he still managed to radiate an electrifying energy that had everyone experiencing warm tingles all over their skin. 

“My friends!” Thor embraced Clint with a crushing hug and did the same for Natasha, Tony, Pepper and Bruce. They all were left a little disorientated and twitchy as a few sparks of electricity shot from Thor, but after such an enthusiastic greeting none of them could stop smiling. Thor was positively charged and he was affecting everything around him… inside and out. “It is good to be back!” 

“Long time no see, man!” Clint patted the larger man on the arm and flinched as he got another static shock. “Are you here for long?” 

“I am on…respite. My father made it so. I have battled many hordes that have brought chaos to the other realms. I’ve come to rejuvenate my strength before returning to the front lines. I’ve come to see you all. You fare well?” 

“Oh yeah… we’re cool!” 

As they all moved back into the lift, they told Thor of what they had been doing since the fight against the Chitauri. Tony spoke of his experiences with the Mandarin, though not in great detail, Clint had said something about possibly purchasing a farm whilst he still did SHIELD missions and Bruce was about to say his part, when the lift doors opened. The storm outside kicked up a notch with an explosive crack of thunder and lightning. 

No one could move or get out of the elevator as Thor was rooted to the spot. 

Steve was standing directly before him, his mouth open in shock. 

“Thor?” He croaked with surprise. “You’re… you’re back.” 

Steve looked pale, as if he was ill or had just woken up. His usually pristine appearance was hampered as his hair was wet and in disarray, sticking out all over the place. There were bags under his eyes and he was dressed in baggy sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt that was several sizes too large for him. Steve looked exhausted. Thor thought that maybe the serum wasn’t working properly, though in seconds Steve’s eyes widened and he grinned, colour returning to his face. If anyone didn’t know better, they would have thought Steve was intoxicated. 

“Captain,” Thor’s voice was whispered and deep, but it wavered. He wasn’t as confident as he was making out. “It is… it is very good to see you again.” 

It was more than simply very good. There was a sudden and very obvious rise in temperature within the lift, the air became close and thick, and everyone started perspiring, their clothes sticking to their bodies with a clammy discomfort. The gentle coughs and then obvious _‘excuse me, can we get out?’_ were completely ignored. 

Thor’s face flushed and in his hand, Mjolnir was shaking, vibrating with discordant tones as she tried to siphon off the power building up in Thor’s body. His eyes were dark, glazed over with the same intoxicated look Steve had, and the huge joyous grin that was on his face quickly changed to a smirk, mischievous… seductive. 

“I er… likewise.” Steve returned the same smirk. The tip of his tongue licked at his lips and he wiped at the sweat on his face with the back of his hand. 

“You… you have been well?” 

Steve shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head. “Yeah, I’m well… I’m great. I’ve been fine. Super swell… y’know?” 

“Are you certain? You don’t look…swell.” Thor stepped forward. His chest armour knocked up against Steve making him stumble. Thor grabbed hold of Steve’s arms to steady him and just like the other Avengers, Steve received a shock, but unlike them, it felt more intense… euphoric. 

Steve tried to cover a sexual moan with a cough. It didn’t work. The others looked at him with raised and quizzical eyebrows, though Natasha and Pepper were smiling with amusement. 

“Well… er… I’ve been a little out of focus… but it’s nothing.” 

“It is not nothing…” Thor leaned in and closed his eyes. He whispered into Steve’s ear. “Can you feel it?” 

Steve closed his eyes as well. The thunder roared and the air he breathed in, the air around him and Thor… it made him feel stronger, more powerful with every breath. He could taste it and smell it… he could feel his skin tingling with longing for more of this power, for Thor. Steve felt a pull, a need he couldn’t resist. 

There was another crack of thunder which made his limbs jolt. He reached up his hand--it was shaking--to touch Thor’s bicep… to feel more of the power seeping from the Asgardian. He nodded. 

“Yeah… I feel it. God… I can feel it… what is it?” 

“I don’t know… but I know what it wants me to do. You won’t mind?” 

“I’ve been hoping…” 

Thor laughed. “As have I.” 

It took only a second, Thor grabbed hold of Steve and hefted him up off the floor and over his shoulder. The others could only look on in shock as Thor carried Steve away down the corridor, running and laughing like some jubilant teenager. 

When Thor and Steve disappeared from sight, the others were finally able to file out of the elevator. 

“What was that?” Tony asked, pointing a finger at where Thor and Steve had been. “Where are they going? What’s going on?”

“Tony, for genius… you’re not very bright.” Clint blinked away his surprise and adopted his usual ‘huh’ attitude, “I think… they’re going to have sex.” 

“Is that how Asgardians usually say hi to old friends? As much as I love Goldilocks, I’m not sure I’m ready for that next stage in our relationship. I need more time… a date, dinner that sort of thing.”

“Tony, don’t be an ass.” Pepper gave him a little slap on the shoulders. “It’s quite clear that Thor isn’t interested in anyone else except Steve.” 

“Oh now... that’s not fair.”

“Tony, this isn’t about you.” Pepper smiled. “For once.” 

“Oh!” Bruce looked to Natasha as if he had a Eureka moment. “Is this to do with what happened on the helicarrier after the Chitauri invasion? That shower room incident?” 

“Shower incident? What--?” Tony clamped his mouth shut. “Is Thor the reason why Steve’s been just ‘soldier’ instead of super soldier of late?” 

The Black Widow nodded. The guys really caught on quickly. “Yeah.”

“Oh hell… this is not the first time the two blondies have bumped uglies… is it?” Tony groaned. Natasha laughed. 

“Nope. It’s not.” She walked off down the corridor but paused to look over her shoulder. “And Tony? What they were bumping… was far from ugly.” 

 

\---------------

 

“Thor? You want Thor and the throne to Asgard? Is that what this is all about?” Steve sagged in the hold of his two captures and utterly failed to contain his contempt with a disgusted snort. “Yeah. I don’t think so. That’s not going to happen.”

Amora chuckled. She waved her hand and the two men dropped Steve to the floor. She knelt down next to him and stroked at Steve’s face with light caresses. 

“I am the one who will be sitting beside Thor when he becomes King. I will be the one who whispers in his ear and shares his bed. I will be Queen and I will rule instead of him. It will be me. Not Sif, not Lorelai, Jane Foster or even you! Thor told me he never wanted to be bonded but that is not acceptable to me. An Aesir bond can only happen if consented by both parties. So I’ve come up with something truly amazing.”

“It’s not going to work.” Steve said defiantly. “Pretty sure of it.” 

“Oh, do you think Thor is yours?” Steve tried to move away, but one long and sharp nail slashed at his cheek and strong fingers grabbed his chin to hold him steady. “In a way… yes, he is, but it will only be temporary. I will see you dead first, Captain. Never will a pathetic mortal… even one such as you, be accepted on Asgard.”

“What? What are you talking…?” Steve tried to get to his feet. “What have you done?”

“Oh dear… can you not get up super soldier? Has your strength gone… or do you need to have a moment? Thoughts of your prince making you hard? Does it hurt not being around him, not touching him or having him within you?” 

Yes. To everything she said. 

Steve closed his eyes and remembered how he had been without Thor during those weeks. He remembered the pounding headaches, the lack of concentration and sleep, along with the uncontrollable lust and the thoughts he kept having towards Thor. He remembered the painful hard-ons that felt as if they wouldn’t go away even after he masturbated. Steve recalled, no matter how many dates Natasha tried to set him up on (with men and women), he was never interested… never aroused. They were never what he wanted. 

“I feel fine.” He lied. 

“You don’t look it.”

“I’m…” 

“You’re not, fine. You’re far from fine and let me tell you why.” Amora took hold of Steve’s hand and like a mother telling a child, she began to explain. “You’re experiencing something very unique. In all the realms and the worlds beyond, none go through what the Aesir do.”

Amora grabbed a fistful of Steve’s hair and yanked his head back. She moved her face close to his and breathed in, long and deep. She smelled him and sighed. 

_I can smell him on you, human. I tasted him on you all those years ago… you’re delicious… you’re intoxicating._

“Usually when an Aesir reaches their first century, a change occurs and takes over. It does vary sometimes by a few years or so, but most young Aesir go through this when they turn one hundred years old. The change is what you Midgardians would call puberty, we go from childhood into adulthood. The usual physical changes happen as well but it’s much more. Our reasoning vanishes. We don’t think, we can’t think. Our sexual drive kicks in with a force that could break apart worlds. We have no control. The only way we can sate it… end it, is to quite simply… fuck! Whoever is there to help us… man or woman… it doesn’t matter. We need to do it, we’re driven by it and it can take weeks… months… before it ends. I could bore you with the details, but you wouldn’t comprehend. So, tell me, Captain Rogers… how have you been feeling recently?”

_He was burning up._

_He tried to shimmy out of sweat sodden clothes whilst he was sprawled out on the bed, but it was clumsy and awkward, and in his haste his feet got tangled in his pants. Desperately he tried to kick the pants off but when he saw Thor, his Asgardian armour magically peeling off and swirling in circles around him and billowing away into thin air, Steve forgot about himself._

_At the foot of the bed was a god… a perfect naked body of toned muscle with sweat glistening his flawless skin and a thick hard endowment that Steve couldn’t help but stare at. He couldn’t stop himself from drooling either._

_“Damn…” Steve wiped at his mouth with a lazy swipe of his hand, which flopped down to his lap._

_It physically hurt to not be touching Thor and Steve knew full well that his own hands weren’t going to alleviate the agony he was feeling and nothing would fill him and feed him except Thor._

_Thor was standing there, looking as nervous and as desperate as Steve felt. He was staring at Steve with the same lust in his eyes, glaring with longing up and down Steve’s body, but there was anguish there too. There was hurt in the Asgardian’s eyes. Thor had suffered as well for being apart from him. From the moment Natasha had pulled them apart, it had been like this. Weeks of pain… of loss…_

_Why wasn’t Thor touching him? Why wasn’t Thor kissing him?_

_“Please?” Steve wasn’t quite sure if he said it, it felt kind of silly to beg, but Thor was taking too long._

_Steve wanted to sit up and grab Thor, haul Thor down upon him but Steve couldn’t… he was weak, drained and in agony. When Thor had carried him here, Steve had never felt better, except for the time on the helicarrier. The contact warmed him, it soothed and excited him at the same time. He felt complete, powerful._

_Being flung on the bed broke that contact and even as they hurried to undress themselves, the small span of time was too long apart. Steve couldn’t force himself to get up, he struggled and instead his hand could only grab at his cock. He tried to go through the motions, but he was far too sensitive. He barely managed a couple of strokes before he had to let go._

_The look on Thor’s face..._

_A great earth shaking boom of thunder rocked the building. The skies were lit up by concurrent bolts of bright and blinding lightning._

_“Oh my god…”_

_Thor was swathed in blue and white tendrils that rippled over his bare skin like snakes. Steve could see how they were crackling, snapping off him and how it was making Thor gasp. The man was panting for control, but he finally managed to step forward and kneel one knee on the edge of the bed. Thor scrunched closed his eyes and palmed his cock, directing those blue and white tendrils to his already swollen muscle. The electric shock made him groan. It evoked other sounds from his mouth that had Steve squirming._

_“Steve…” Thor could barely speak, he swayed and his knee slipped. He saved himself from falling off the bed completely by grabbing hold of Steve’s ankle. With that one hand, Steve’s pants were ripped clean off and Thor’s fingers wrapped around his foot._

_Skin upon skin…that was it. It was like a fire ignited inside him._

_Steve bolted up into a sitting position and went to pull Thor in for a kiss, but he was shoved back down and one of his legs was lifted up into the air. Thor massaged his hands over Steve’s calf several times before his mouth kissed the sole of his foot. They were gentle and light kisses and Thor purposely rubbed his beard against his skin, tickling and teasing. Thor flicked his tongue at each of Steve’s toes, licking them with relish before sucking them into his mouth, hungrily.  
Steve gasped. He shuddered and moaned when teeth nipped at his toes. He never thought such attention to his feet could feel so amazing and he wanted Thor to keep worshiping them, to bite harder, but instead Thor slipped his hands further down his leg and his mouth followed… down and down until he was bowed between them, his lips pursing and pressing against Steve’s erection. _

_Pleasured spasms coursed over and through him and he had to bite down hard on his bottom lip as Thor took him in, swallowed him slowly inch by inch and lavished him with swirls of his tongue. Thor deftly traced his fingertips along the inside of Steve’s thigh and scraped them across his scrotum, giving his balls an agonising (oh sweet god!) squeeze. Thor took several deep gulps. He gagged a little as he laughed with his mouth full, before he pulling away and trailing his drooling mouth up over Steve’s torso._

_When their mouths kissed, it was ferocious, frantic, but sloppy with clumsy fumbling. Their hands tore at each other, nails broke through skin and ripped at hair, and as their bodies writhed against each other every spark of energy crackled over them, heightening the pleasure to a point that Steve knew he was close to coming._

_Thor’s touch, his kisses, his tongue and moans inside Steve’s mouth, his weight on top of him, the friction of their cocks grinding together was beyond pleasurable agony. Steve couldn’t control himself, he locked his legs tightly around Thor’s waist and squeezed with all his might whilst he entwined his hands in the tussled and dirty locks of Thor’s hair and pulled. He begged into Thor’s mouth to be entered. Steve didn’t care if it sounded pitiful or stupid, but he wanted Thor to be inside him. It was a need so strong that Steve found himself promising the Asgardian some of the dirtiest things he had ever uttered in his life._

_Thor agreed, his hand cupped at Steve’s smooth jaw and assured him that it would be soon. Thor caressed his face, his fingers toyed and stroked over Steve’s lips, a couple even pushing into his mouth. Thor then rose up to his knees and wiped his wet hand down through the crack of Steve’s ass, each one of his fingers probing, teasing his entrance. Two of his fingers pushed in first, slowly and gently, forcing and stretching Steve as much as he could. An electric shock from those fingers inside coincided with a hefty shove sending Steve into jerking spasms. Steve cried out and more pleas babbled between his breathless pants._

_Thor laughed and watched Steve still shaking and trembling as he pulled his fingers out. As Steve wasn’t about to calm or stop his involuntary convulses, Thor trailed one hand up and down against Steve’s thigh, tracing soothing those touches over his leg whilst angling himself into position. After a few more colourful orders from the Captain, Thor slowly pushed inside him._

_Thor was big. Steve had forgotten how big and how tight he really was. He tried not to tense at the penetration but he couldn’t help but do it as Thor’s thick girth stretched him and filled him. He tried to speak, he tried to relax but only moans escaped, only vocals of pleasured pain came out. Steve reached out for Thor, but his arms flopped down over his face as the tremors of pleasure made him utterly helpless to do anything except take what Thor was giving him._

_When Thor started to thrust, Thor moaned too, feeling Steve contracting and squeezing him with every push. He bowed down to smother his mouth and his growling words into Steve’s neck. Again those delicious (and rude) Asgardian words growled against Steve’s skin and the ripples of energy now crackled from his lips._

_“Oh god… Thor! It’s too much!”_

_He was caught in a storm, a raging buffeting storm that was crashing against his body and filling him with a power that he had never felt before. It felt like he had the whole universe inside him, millions upon billions of stars waiting to explode. He could feel everything, he was connected… but most of all, there was Thor, right at the centre of his entire existence._

_He came, splashes of warm sticky ejaculate shot over his abdomen, but this time, his orgasm felt different. It should have been quick and over with, hard and brutal or a gentle flutter. He knew what his body did when this happened, before and after the serum… but this was different. While he had finished coming, the sensations, the orgasm itself was still going on._

_Thor knew. Looking down at him with a smile on his face, Thor knew that this was different. It was for him too. He didn’t stop though and so the storm continued, fiercer than before. Thor even placed his hand around Steve’s limp cock and his palm shocked Steve hard again._

_Steve choked in a middle of a cry. What Thor was doing to him, making his body do… he tensed and dug his nails into Thor’s back, raking them up and drawing blood._

_Thor let out a roar, a bellow so loud, that the whole room shook. Lightning erupted from Thor, from Mjolnir, and rippled like waves over him and Steve. Thor’s outcry quickly became rapid grunting pants for breath, intermixed with splutters of Steve’s name and Asgardian swear words. Steve took several attempts before he was able to grab Thor’s hair and kiss him, muffling the dirty words with his mouth and tongue._

_Steve had a few choice words of his own he wanted to scream, when he came a second time, but all he could do was whine and murmur nonsense. He couldn’t even protest—not that he wanted to—when Thor rose to his knees and continued his rapid pounding. Thor wasn’t tiring in the slightest, despite his red flushed skin and winded breaths, he kept up a pace that Steve could hardly believe. It took Steve by surprise when Thor scooped him up from the bed and held him close. Still pumping hard, Thor wrapped his arms around Steve and with all his strength rose to his feet, and carried him, wobbling, across the bed before slamming him against the wall._

_Steve was shocked hard again. Refractory period damned._

_The storm wasn’t letting up. Time lost all meaning… it didn’t exist… Steve didn’t want this to end but he didn’t think his body could handle it much more._

Amora lessened her hold and raked her fingers through the wet strands of his hair, almost as if she was apologising for hurting him. 

“You’ve felt weak, haven’t you? Like a part of you is missing?”

Steve didn’t say yes, his pained expression said what his voice could not. That response pleased her. 

“How old are you Captain? You’ve not quite reached your Centennial?” Again Steve didn’t verbally respond. “You must be close, because it’s happening as it should. At last.”

“What?” Steve managed to sputter. “What is happening to me?” 

“You’re becoming a man. You are going through the Aesir’s change.” 

“That’s… that’s impossible!”

“No, not now it’s not. You are of age. By Asgardian standards you are becoming a man. You see… Captain, you were a sick weak pathetic and frail thing when we found you… more so than most of your kind. The serum that flows through your veins… has turned you into this powerful specimen of human. My serum…” 

“Erskine made the serum… it was he who…”

Amora shook her head and again addressed him like a child. 

“For centuries I’ve been on this world, figuring a way to get back to Asgard. You don’t know how frustrating and sickening it is to live in a realm amongst primitives whose technology and scientific understanding is less than a four year old! It has been beyond humiliating! I have been waiting until the technology of this backward planet progressed enough and sure enough it happened. I was in Germany when I found one man who gave me hope for a way out. Abraham Erskine. His ideas for the ‘serum’ and what it could do to a person, how it could change them offered me a way to get back to Asgard and secure my place with Thor at my side. I became his assistant and ‘helped’ or rather I prompted him here and there. He came up with the idea, I merely perfected it… as much as I could. Things went a little wrong when Schmidt became involved, but…”

“The Red Skull. You were responsible for him? You made him?” 

Amora shrugged her shoulders.

“The Red Skull… that’s original.” Amora sighed and nodded. “Yes. The early experiments with the serum did go a little wrong and he was an interesting mistake.” 

"Interesting?!”

“Oh please, Captain… your squabbles… your war or whatever you called it, was beneath me. So after that I went with Erskine and became a part of the SSR. I maintained a position on his science team. When Erskine brought you in for the ‘Super Soldier’ experiment, I was against it. Seriously how something as fragile as you pulled through and survived life, I don’t know. I didn’t want you for the trials, but Erskine insisted and… well he proved me wrong. Which is surprising for such inferior beings. My serum made you strong and powerful… it made you beautiful and all because of one tiny component that I added before you underwent the experiment.”

“What was that?”

“Asgardian DNA.” Amora leaned forward and touched her hand to Steve’s chest. “The reason why you’re going through the change… is because Thor is inside you… he is part of the serum. A part of you.” 

\---------------- 

No risks were being taken as he was escorted from the caves.

Loki was gagged by a mask covering his mouth and jaw to prevent him from whispering his magics, and his hands were cuffed. His ankles were chained but just enough to allow him to walk. 

It would have been shameful or at least embarrassing to be herded along like this, but for Loki it was the best thing that could have happened. It was a good thing that no one could see him smile behind his gag because this was ridiculously funny.

Odin really didn’t know him at all. No one did. It seemed that not even the great Yggdrasil knew him… why else would the world tree allow it? 

Loki Laufeyson didn’t need his voice to work his sorcery. He had mother to thank for that. 

Escape from his bonds would be easy and he could make his own way to Midgard. 

There would be no conquering the world this time. 

He and Thor had some unfinished business to attend to. 

In seconds the corridor was plunged into sub-zero temperatures. Ice covered the walls, floor and ceiling… it encased all the Einherjar in solid blocks. 

Loki’s chains broke into pieces and he simply walked away, with a smile on his face. 

“That went well.” 


	9. Goddesses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rescue of Steve and Jane doesn't go quite to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there peeps. This story hasn't been forgotten about, so here is the next chapter. I do hope that people are still interested and that it won't take quite as long for me to post again. 
> 
> Enjoy. 
> 
> Beta'd by mjolnir-s-master but all mistakes are my own. 
> 
>  
> 
> \---------------------

_“Thor is a part of you. His DNA is the most important component of your serum… he’s the reason why the serum worked at all. You have Asgardian DNA within your veins, so your body is behaving like one… it’s maturing, it’s going through the changes any young Aesir would at our age. The instant you met Thor, your bodies recognised each other before your minds could even contemplate the concept of how connected you are. You are the key for the bonding, to making Thor and Asgard mine. When I have the new serum perfected… I will be so grateful, that I will end your life quickly and painlessly.”_

 

They tied him down. They restrained him to a hard metal bed and locked him in a cell with no windows or any kind of light. Every second of every minute of every hour was absolute hell. He was freezing; he felt the cold creep through his body and seep right through to his bones. He was shaking so hard that every move was agony. 

Amora’s words kept repeating again and again in his head, and while it sounded unbelievable coming from her, his body was telling him otherwise. They were connected and now being apart from Thor was reducing him to this. He actually felt worse than he’d ever done, before he was given Erskine’s serum. He was a mess. The only cure was Thor and with him, they would end this pubescent lust, and become… what? Normal? 

Would everything go back to normal? What was normal? 

A genuine fear began to build up in Steve as uncontrollable thoughts about what would happen when his ‘Change’ subsided took over. It wasn’t because of Amora or her threats of death--he was confident that it wouldn’t happen--but what scared him was the fact that neither he nor Thor would want to continue this relationship, that their feelings, this sexual energy between them was nothing but a side effect of the serum. 

As if Thor had heard his thoughts, giant crashes of thunder sounded from outside, thunder that roared in anger and shook the foundations of the building. The thunder maddened Steve into a thrashing rage. 

\----------------

_They had been sparring when it happened._

_Sif had always been disappointed that she hadn’t been there for Thor during his change, but as soon as she lost control during their fight, when she dropped down upon him and kissed him, Sif was overjoyed that it was he with her in her time of need._

_Thor had been surprised at first, but as she frantically tried (and nearly succeeded) to tear their clothes off in front of the other soldiers and their friends… Thor had grinned with a devilish smile._

_“I will help you, but not here.”_

_Sif didn’t care where they did it, but Odin had the guards force them apart (which was not an easy thing to do) and escort the couple to Thor’s chambers, where they were left to continue._

_It was clumsy and feral and she utterly dominated Thor, though she figured that he allowed it. The bed was broken in seconds. In fact everything in the room was destroyed as they tussled and fought with a sexual vigour beyond crazed. They laughed and screamed until their voices became hoarse, but even days after, Sif’s lust wasn’t sated. Thor kept up with her savagery. He did things with his mouth and hands that had her keening and convulsing with ecstasy. He knew what to do to make her cry his name and plead for more, but she was just as capable of making him scream too._

_It was nearly two weeks before the insanity diminished, when Sif finally felt herself return to normal. It was when Thor was being tender and gentle with her amidst the furs on the floor that Sif had her final release. She shook and trembled, breathless, and eventually her mind became drowsy and calm from all the chaos of the weeks just gone._

_Thor wrapped her in his arms and held her tightly to his sweat drenched body. He kissed her softly and whispered calming words in her ear, keeping the furs wrapped around them, and she quickly drifted off to sleep. Sif didn’t know how long she slept, but when she woke, Thor was still there next to her._

_“Did you sleep?” she wearily asked, stroking at the new beard that had formed on his face._

_“For what seemed like forever,” Thor replied with a light chuckle, stroking his beard with approval. She hoped he would keep it. “How are you feeling?”_

_“Wonderful. I feel wonderful… and a little sore.”_

_“Aye. I can barely move… but when we do rise, I think I could eat an entire feast. I’m famished.”_

_Sif couldn’t help but agree, as her stomach was rumbling. They had only paused a few times to eat during all the sex, but now she would be eating for days to fill this hunger. Odin and her father would hold a gigantic banquet in celebration of her change. However, the pleasure and contentment she was feeling quickly passed when she looked into Thor’s eyes. While Sif did know that he loved her and cared for her, seeing the way he looked at her now, she knew that he didn’t feel the same love she felt for him._

_They were betrothed. Their fathers had arranged it when they were still children. Everyone on Asgard was expecting them to be married after this, but Sif just knew that it wasn’t going to happen._

_“You… you do not wish to bond with me,” she stated, unable to keep the sadness from her voice._

_Sif’s question clearly upset him. The look of anguish on Thor’s face said it all and she felt crushed._

_“I cannot lie to you. I’m sorry. I am so very sorry, Sif.” There were tears in his eyes as he kissed her once upon her trembling lips. He stroked her wet hair out of her face and hugged her tightly, pressing his own face against her neck. “Yes, we were betrothed by our parents and I know at the time neither one of us liked the idea…I had hoped that when we both came of age we would see differently.”_

_Sif smiled softly as she remembered when her father had told her about the engagement. She had thrown a tantrum that had resulted in her destroying most of her father’s great hall and a couple of the small statues of her ancestors._

_For the majority of her first 100 years, she did not like the idea of being married, even to the Prince of Asgard. It was why she had striven instead to be a shield maiden, even though her family and others scoffed at the idea of her being one._

_It was only when she became friends with Thor, when she joined him in battle that the idea of being his Queen appealed to her. She had grown to know him more than anyone else did and that was a love of a sort. The nature of the Aesir before their change couldn’t allow them to love sexually, and while she did so now, it was clear he did not._

_“I do love you, Sif. I do so more than I can put into words… I want you in my life, I want you by my side, always… but I don’t…”_

_She placed a single finger to his lips, silencing him. She knew what he was going to say._

_“Then I will not make you go through the bonding for my sake, nor will I go back on what I swore to you.” Sif gently lifted Thor’s head to look into his eyes. She stroked his cheek again and kissed him once upon his brow. “I will be with you until Ragnarok. I will fight at your side, in your name… as your friend.”_

_“I vow the same to you, my Lady.”_

_Those would be the only vows they could make to each other._

_She couldn’t say anything more. It hurt too much, even as they continued for another hour to lie in each other’s arms, both of them forcing back the tears._

\---------------------------- 

The bus was being buffeted hard. The storm was all around them and Agent May was struggling to keep the large aircraft under control. Barton was helping as much as he could as well, but the full fury of Thor’s wrath was relentless. 

When it was clear that May herself was unable to keep the ship under control, Sif and Hogun had rushed up to the cockpit and took up the controls themselves, but even their piloting skills were not enough to keep the craft steady. The lightning screwed up the sensors, making it impossible to get a fix on Thor’s location, and there was no eye in this storm, no safe place to touch down. 

The son of Coul had asked, Stark had asked too, ( their voices calling again and again over the intercom) if they were going to be able to land, and while May answered with a definite no, Hogun grunted a scoffing reply and took the bus into a dive. 

_“What the hell are you doing?!”_ Agent Ward’s voice yelled over the speaker. 

_“Relax, dear fellow! Hogun knows what he’s doing.”_ Sif heard Fandral’s calm, chirpy voice respond to the young human, then his and Volstagg’s chuckles, as if this was all perfectly normal. 

Sif couldn’t help but chuckle herself and she saw Hogun’s slight smile as he sped up. 

He certainly knew what he was doing. 

This technology was old, the sensors were shot, and so Hogun and Sif had to rely on what visibility there was through the front windows. Between the pair of them, Hogun and Sif managed to fly the bus down, smashing through trees and some pylons on the way down, before bringing it skidding and spinning to a halt. 

“Where are we?” asked May, leaning over Sif’s shoulder. Leaning very close. 

Sif tensed a little and angled her head to look up at the agent to catch her gaze. There was nothing on the readouts to indicate an exact location, so Sif gestured as such with roll of her eyes at the controls. 

“We’re where Thor is,” Sif said, matter of factly. 

“Yes. Of course we are.” 

Sif leaned forward, ignoring the slight humour in May’s tone, and tried to see through the window through all the darkness and rain. Hogun rubbed at some of the condensation with his hand. 

They had landed in the middle of a forest, or what was left of a forest, the trees of which surrounded a cement bunker of some kind, an entrance to a facility or lab somewhere underground. 

_“Everyone all right up there?”_ Volstagg enquired. 

“We’re good. Thanks,” Clint replied, though he didn’t look a little shaken. “How… how are you lot?” 

There were groans of response, but no one had been physically injured. 

However that stoic expression on Hogun’s face soon changed to surprise when his eyes widened and he pointed his finger towards the chaos outside. 

“There!” he exclaimed. “Look!” 

Sif strained her eyes to look where Hogun had pointed, and while it was difficult to see through the rain and lightning, Sif made out Thor in the midst of the clearing. He was standing opposite another man, a tall broader man, dressed in civilian clothes: jeans and a black and red checked shirt. The Midgardian attire didn’t and couldn’t hide his identity. The two streaks of black hair adorned an otherwise perfectly shaved head actually gave it away. There was no mistaking who this was. 

“We must get out there!” Sif ordered, jumping to her feet and brandishing her sword. Hogun agreed and they ran from the cockpit, making May and Barton follow in confusion. They leapt down the stairs, all the way to where the others were waiting. 

“Nice landing, that man.” Fandral patted Hogun on the back, to which he got a grunt of approval. “What’s the rush?” 

“Skurge.” 

That one word, that name, was all that was needed to get Fandral and Volstagg to brandish their weapons. Everyone else took a few steps back as they stormed past towards the rear gangway. 

“Everyone, stay here!” Sif ordered as she operated the controls that brought down the ramp. The wind and rain rushed in from outside, but it didn’t phase her or any of the other Asgardians. 

“What’s going on?” Coulson asked. “Who is out there? What is this Skurge?” 

“None of you are a match for him.” 

“And we are?” Volstagg uttered, the four ran down the ramp at the back of the bus. 

Fandral slapped the larger man on the back. “Don’t be so negative, old boy! Especially before a fight!” 

With them gone, the Avengers and SHIELD agents went to get a better look of this new adversary. They slowly followed, and sure enough, they were able to glimpse a sight of a man standing opposite Thor. A man who was larger than Thor himself. 

There was a series of metallic clanks as Tony’s suit rippled over his body. The mask snapped down over his face, and the weapons powered up. 

“I’m going to help,” Tony said. 

No one was going to stop him, not when they saw that the Skurge was ready to snap Jane Foster’s neck. 

\--------------------- 

_“I was wondering how long it would take for you two to find me.”_

_Loki didn’t bother to turn round. He waited for the lady and her minion to walk in front of him before addressing them again._

_“I see that your many years on Midgard have not changed you, Lady Amora.”_

_She didn’t like his tone. Her smile showed her distaste all too clearly, but she sat opposite him and starred into the fire. She wasn’t going to bore him with the details of her exile, nor did Loki want to hear about it. He wanted to know if she had succeeded._

_“You are supposed to be dead, Laufeyson,” she said in the same tone he had spoken with. “But here you are, on Midgard with a new plan that exceeds the one you have for your brother? That is not possible.”_

_She was right. What he had in store for his brother would always come first, so here on this pitiful, little world, he would unleash destruction that would ripple throughout the nine realms and beyond and he would finally have Thor crawling at his feet._

_Loki noticed Amora’s gaze, how it flicked to the sceptre in his hand, to the blue jewel. She knew what it was and she wanted it. Of course she did, but Loki wasn’t about to let that happen. Not until she told him what he wanted._

_“Did you succeed?”_

_“Partially.” Amora crossed her legs, but knowing that Loki had no interest in her bare flesh, pulled the green material of her dress down over her knees. “The solider is out of his time. He’s been frozen in ice since the 40’s and he’s only just been found. He has all the answers in his blood. Get me Captain Steven Rogers… give me the means to finalise my experiment.”_

_“The fact that you and your Skurge have failed to get hold of him does surprise me, Amora. You may not have all your powers, but he does. What kind of imbecile is unable to snatch away one lowly human?”_

_Skurge snarled but stayed from making any physical affront on Loki when Amora held up her hand. She always did have him under her spell._

_“I suppose we could say the same thing about you trying to bring down your brother,” she replied spitefully. “How long has it been? Skurge told me it’s only been a year since you found out about your true heritage… started off your bond. With all your skill, your drive and ambition… your hate and love… you weren’t able to achieve what I did.”_

_“Mind your tongue, witch, or I will rip it out.”_

_She believed him. She knew what powers he had now. The Mad Titian gave him the Mind Stone for a reason… but ultimately Amora was going to be the one to deliver to what Loki really wanted. She wasn’t going to back down easily._

_“The Captain is not just any human, Loki,” she said. “He has Thor inside him… he is Thor! He will be Thor to you.” She shook her head. “Those SHIELD people have him under watch constantly, and they haven’t made it easy to get to him! However, use of the Mind Stone will secure him… and will also gain me a few helpful hands so I can finalize the serum. Give me the sceptre for a while and I will have everything you need to…”_

_Loki laughed and rose to his feet, whipping the sceptre and the Mind Stone within inches of Amora’s grasp, purposely teasing her. Mocking her._

_“Find this Captain, Enchantress, and when I have control of this world, I will consider sparing some of this power.”_

_“I am doing this for you… I’ve endured this banishment because of you, Loki. You owe me.”_

_“And if you ever want to go back to Asgard, if you want your banishment to end, I would suggest you do as I say. It wouldn’t be wise to make the future Allfather angry now, not after you have endured so much.”_

_Loki smiled to see the look of annoyance on the woman’s face, but deep down he knew that Amora could make things difficult for him._

\--------------

He could end it with one precise strike. A single bolt of lightning could wound, and a very powerful one could kill, but not before Jane was killed first. 

As if Thor wasn’t already riled. The desperate need to find Steve safe, to hold him again, was like a fire in his head. Amora was going to pay for what she had done, but even through all the insanity he was feeling, he couldn’t let anything happen to Jane either. 

As always, Jane was keeping as composed as best she could with two hands planted on either side of her head, ready to snap her neck. There was fear in her eyes, but Thor knew her well. She wouldn’t try anything; she would remain strong. However, this was Skurge holding her captive. 

Skurge went missing not long after Amora was banished, and of course he would have followed her here. The man was smitten by her and not because she had bewitched him. Skurge, the half Jotun, would do anything for her. 

“Want to make your move, Odinson?” Skurge sneered. “Think you’ll be fast enough?” 

“Let her go and I might let you die quickly!” Thor spoke, and the storm screamed along with him with powerful wrath and anger. “Tell me where Amora is… where does she have Steve Rogers?” 

There was no response. Skurge simply grinned and retained his position. His amusement was irritating, a great annoyance. No doubt Amora had given him orders to wait until she emerged but Thor didn’t want to wait, he couldn’t. He was burning up despite the cold winds and downpour. 

Then he saw his friends. Sif came to stand by him, her sword extended into the spear, and the Warrior Three were encircling Skurge, cutting off any kind of escape. He never doubted that they would follow him, they always had ever since they were children, but then he saw Stark hovering above them. Thor smiled. 

“Jane! Are you all right?” Thor edged forward. He reached a hand out towards her, but when a shot of lightning shot from his fingers and impacted with the ground near Jane, it caught everyone, even Thor by surprise. Everyone stepped back. Jane let out a little squeak of fear when Skurge tensed and his hands squeezed tighter at her face. 

“Stay back!” she choked, the words were barely audible. “Please!” 

“Listen to her, Odinson, or I will kill her! Keep your lackies back too!” 

“Lackies?!” Volstagg sneered and spat on the floor in disgust. “We’re his friends, villain! We choose to be by his side and we always will. No spell or bewitchment keeps us loyal to Thor! Which is more than can be said about you and Amora!” 

The sky lit up, thunder boomed and cracked, utterly deafening. Thor was growing more and more impatient, and the storm was getting worse because of it. 

They were sinking. The ground was changing, turning to a muddy slush that was pulling them down. It became more difficult for all of them to keep their footing, even Skurge, who looked briefly over his shoulder to the entrance of the complex, but still there was no sign of his mistress. No sign of help. 

“Surrender!” Sif cried, taking several stamping paces forward. “Release the Lady Foster at once!” 

“I don’t think so.” 

“You don’t have a choice,” Sif warned. 

Skurge grinned. He then began to laugh which was confusing for he had no cause to be so amused in this situation. Amora still hadn’t shown her face, but in the past she had always used Skurge to do all her physical work. He would stall with a fight whilst she got done what she needed. It was highly possible she was making her escape whilst leaving Skurge to face Thor’s wrath. If Skurge killed Jane Foster, it would only make things worse for himself. 

There was no purpose to him being here except to delay the inevitable. 

Thor smiled. This was all too easy. 

He moved in closer, but something caught his eye. He heard something whisper in his ear. 

“Thor…!” 

There was a flash of green, just by the tree line. Thor turned and saw nothing except the destruction he had wrought, but when he looked back to Jane, there was another flash followed by a sound that made everything come to a standstill. 

“Hello, brother. How are things?” 

No. 

How could he be here? 

Thor spun round, as more flashes and then images of Loki appeared, numerous illusions of his brother surrounded and outnumbered them and every single one of them was laughing. The gold shimmers around the clones eventually faded and Thor was left with no clue as to which was actually Loki. He couldn’t believe that he was here, that Yggdrasil would have let him free. 

The storm Thor was creating subsided a little through his confusion, the rain fall became lighter, but the energy in the air, around Thor himself, was still potent and strong, ready to unleash again. Sif took a few steps closer to him, concern etched on her face at his delirious confusion. 

“No.” Thor shook his head. “This is not possible!! You cannot be here!” 

“Thor?” Sif gently touched his arm and lingered her hand there when he didn’t flinch. “Who cannot be here? Who are you talking to?” 

“I am here!” All the Lokis said, though not at once, which made an eerie echo. “Dearest brother… you are in a state, aren’t you? You look terrible!” 

“LOKI! I have no time for your games!” Thor yelled, spinning around and shrugging off Sif’s hand. 

“Thor!” Sif gave him a shove as she yelled his name in his ear, her hand slapped against his arm to try and bring him out of crazed stupor. “Loki is not here--it’s Amora! She is making you see things! He is trying to distract you!” 

He wasn’t listening, or rather Thor couldn’t hear her. 

“I don’t care what you think you’re going to achieve!” Thor continued to address the clones that only he could see. “Make that dog release Jane now and get out of my way!” 

The Lokis all looked to each other and shrugged their shoulders. “Very well. If you insist.” 

Immediately Skurge released his hold on Jane, but he gave her a vicious shove and she slumped to the thick wet ground. Skurge backed away. He held his hands up whilst Fandral rushed over to pull Jayne aside, away from Skurge. 

But Fandral didn’t see her reach inside her jacket. He didn’t know about the knife until it was thrusted through the gap in his armour and deep through his flesh. 

Fandral’s cry of pain, him staggering and slipping in the mud, had Volstagg and Hogun instantly running to his aid, but they barely managed to drag him back to his feet and away when Skurge nearly took their heads off. His axe appeared from nowhere and swung within inches of their faces. 

Thor looked in horror as the man who had been threatening to kill Jane was now protecting her, shielding her as Sif and the others retaliated. They attacked, metal clashed against metal, the skies screamed as Thor rage unleashed again. However the power of the storm, the bolts of lightning didn’t effect Loki, no matter how hard Thor tried to hit him. 

Sif tried with all her might to get him to focus on Skurge and not his brother, but her attempts were futile in his craze. 

To him, all of Loki’s clones inundated Thor. They rushed in and swarmed him; they disorientated him and made him angrier. Thor’s powers were unpredictable in the state he was in, now his fury towards Loki fuelled them and Mjolnir amplified them, letting loose successive bursts of lightning that exploded all around him and his friends. 

Thor was spinning in circles and as he was buffeted, pushed and shoved by a sea of his brothers, he tried to focus and push everyone aside. A gale force wind lifted his friends and Skurge, who were still trying to fight, up off their feet, all except one. 

As the hoard of Loki’s clones kept honing him in, annoying and laughing at him, Thor made out through the rain in his eyes, flashes of red and gold. 

“Man of Iron! Get inside that compound, find Captain Rogers!” 

Thor didn’t hear Sif’s voice scream above the howls of the wind, nor did he see her scooping Jane out from the mud and carrying her back to the jet to safety. 

Nothing else clearly registered to him, except thoughts of finding Steve and the debilitating sounds of Loki’s laughter ringing in his ears. The taunts of his brother were confusing him more and more until he reached a point where he couldn’t stand it any longer. 

“NO!” 

Thor rose Mjolnir up into the air. All the lightning channelled into the hammer, and Thor brought it down to the ground with a thundering smash. 

\------------------------

The bus was rocked and pushed through the mire by the force of Thor’s lightening onslaught. It caught the Avengers and SHIELD agents off guard, but they hung on for dear life until everything stilled. There was a sudden crack of the electrical systems and everything went dark. 

“Everyone all right?” Coulson called out. There were some affirmative responses, and when he and May came down from the cockpit, everyone looked a little shaken but no visible injuries were seen, with the exception of Fitz who had a small cut on his forehead. Simmons was already tending to him. 

“What was that?” Fitz asked. 

"That was Thor, Fitz." said Gemma. "Who else could it be?" 

“We need to get out there!” 

“You need to get this bus up and running, Fitz.” Coulson said. “Doctor Selvig, Doctor Banner, help him. In the meanwhile, May, Skye, Romanoff, and Barton will come with me and try to help Thor and Stark as much as we can. We need to bring back Captain Rogers and Miss Foster safe and sound. Gemma, come with us as well… they may need medical help.” 

“What about me?” Ward asked. 

“Stay. Guard the bus.” 

Coulson ignored Grant Ward’s reluctant sigh and led the other group of agents towards the docking ramp. 

“With all due respect, we don’t know what’s going on out there,” Barton said. “There are four Asgardians battling two more! We’re no match for them!” 

“Our priority is getting Steve and Jane Foster back here safely,” Natasha said, tapping at her ear in the hope of connecting the coms with Stark. She called his name several times and when she didn’t get any kind of reply, she gave Clint a look of concern. “Tony, too, if he was caught up in Thor’s assault.” 

“Let’s do what we can, people.” Coulson walked over to the manual override for the ramp. His hands only touched the lever when there was a screech of metal, and then the ramp began to descend on its own. 

Not on its own. A hand was pulling it down. 

There standing in the wind and the rain, drenched through and with an unconscious Jane Foster slung over her shoulder, was Lady Sif. Once she was able to walk up the ramp, she strode with confident steps and gently eased Jane down on one of the seats. Selvig was immediately by Jane’s side, snatching a blanket from Simmons and wrapping it round her. 

“Be wary of her,” Sif commanded as Selvig began to check her vitals. “The Lady Jane attacked Fandral… she is in league with the Enchantress, but not through any will of her own. I fear she has been bewitched." 

“Bewitched?” Selvig asked. “How?” 

“Amora is a powerful sorceress, capable of putting men underneath her spell. Those that are bewitched will do anything for her. She and her sister have cast this spell on many in Asgard, but never were they able to affect women. It seems Amora can do so now. None of us are safe from her.” 

“Okay. How do we defend against that?” asked Barton. 

“Don’t let her touch you. Flee if you see her. Her minion Skurge is out there too, fighting Thor and the others. He is just as deadly. I highly recommend finding Captain Rogers as quickly as possible.” 

“We’re going there now,” Coulson said. “But the bus is out of action, thanks to Thor’s lightning attack. It should be fixed by the time we return.” 

Sif nodded. “Then let us make haste. I will lead your agents into the complex myself. I may be the only person strong enough to face her if we cross paths.” 

There was no need for further talk. Sif led Coulson and the other agents out into the rain, leaving Ward with the three scientists and Jane Foster. Grant unholstered his weapon, an action that received a disapproving glare from Selvig. 

“You heard her, doctor,” Ward said. “She is compromised. Go fix the bus with the others… I’ll keep watch over Miss Foster.” 

Reluctantly Selvig left Jane in Agent Ward’s care and went to help, but he couldn’t stop worrying about her. Not that any of them could blame him. 

\--------------------

Thor saw the devastation he had wrought. The destruction of the forest and all their surroundings, was immense. Even the complex had been damaged. It’s entrance had been blown away leaving nothing but a wide open hole strewn with rubble. 

Though even through his madness, Thor saw his friends lying in the mud. He saw Skurge lying there too. He had done this. He had hurt his friends because of his illness, and it made Thor feel the agonising guilt twist and wrench his innards along with the pain of being apart from Steve. His face was red, not just from the rain. Actual tears were streaming down his cheeks, and his eyes stung as they did so, however his guilt and concern over his friends wasn’t enough to stop him from approaching the building. Steve was still his priority. 

Though he shouldn’t be. As much as he loved Steve, one life shouldn’t be above the many, above those of others who depended on them. Thor allowed himself to look over his shoulder and sure enough, thankfully, he saw the Warrior’s Three stirring and eventually they began to get to their feet. 

“Go, Thor!” Volstagg groaned, as Hogun helped him up. “We shall deal with Skurge. Go!” 

“You heard the man… let’s go, big fella!” 

Thor looked up. He watched as Tony Stark slowly descended from the air and land next to him. His suit was glowing, pulsing with energy, all provided from Thor’s and Mjolnir’s lightning. The power in that suit had been amplified just like the time he and Stark first met. A bonus. 

Thor nodded, pleased that this amped up Stark was accompanying him, and the two of them walked through the rubble and into the building… where a staircase descended down into darkness. 

“JARVIS is scanning for Cap now. It’s a labyrinth down there,” Tony said, as some search lights illuminated. “There are lots of life signs, Thor. Anyone of them could be Steve.” 

Whilst grateful for JARVIS’ aid, Thor didn’t need to have a scan to find Steve because the further down they went, the more his pain lessened. He would be able to locate Steve simply by how better he was feeling and when he did. He was never going to let him go again. Ever. 

That was until a barrage of bullets opened fire upon him. 

\------------------

He could feel his wrath. He could feel Thor’s need to get to him. 

Steve thrashed. He pulled at his restraints, but they wouldn’t break or give, and that agitated him more. He screamed, but as his throat felt like it was on fire, the scream came out as a croak followed by a broken rattling gasp that failed to voice his anger and frustration. 

When the foundations of the building shook, Steve tried to laugh, though the frustration of being bound and unable to do anything instead made him sputter and cough a peculiar amalgamation of the two. It didn’t stop him struggling. He was relentless and determined to get out of these restraints, but in the end, it was the voice calling out to him that made the straps snap. 

The force of his bindings breaking was so great that Steve rolled and fell off the bed. He impacted with a cold hard concreate floor that cracked beneath him, and while such a fall wasn’t high as some he had experienced, it made the pain he was experiencing that much worse. He felt winded and even more weakened, but that didn’t stop him. Steve forced himself to his knees. He ignored the dizziness in his pounding head and eventually managed to get to his feet. 

“THOR!” 

He yelled again and again as he staggered over to the door. It was locked, yet he pushed at the heavy door. He pounded his fists against it which made dents in the thick metal until eventually the hinges gave out and it collapsed out into the corridor, smeared with the blood from his knuckles. 

He stumbled out into the corridor, the floor cold and harsh against his bare feet, but he couldn’t make out much visually as the lighting was dim and flickering causing a strain on his already aching eyes. Steve leaned against the wall and called out again. 

“STEVEN!” 

Thor was here. 

Steve felt a new strength hearing Thor’s voice and instinctively knew what direction he had to go in. He began to run (as best he could) and he called out, but the longer he staggered through the maze of corridors, the lack of Thor’s response to his calls worried him. So did the guards. 

The lack of Amora’s guards worried him. They were nowhere to be seen, so Steve paused for breath. He leaned against one of the walls, and after a few seconds, a few blinks to rid himself of the blurring daze in his eyes, he could see the corridor had split into four more, all equally dark and abandoned. 

Steve closed his eyes and focused on Thor, he thought only of him, and as he took a few steps towards his right, he felt some of his pain ease. A tingling jolt shuddered down his back, which left a pleasurable flush of warmth rise to his face. He knew that this was the direction to go. However, when he opened his eyes, he saw a bright light coming from the corridor to his left. He saw a flash of red, possibly from Thor’s cape. 

Steve began to head down the left corridor… and the closer he got, the clearer things became. Thor was right at the end, he was there. 

But something wasn’t right. Something was drawing him back in the other direction, but when he called out again, Thor’s voice replied from in front of him. 

“Steve. I’m here! Come to me… we can go home. Together.” 

Steve began to run. 

\------------------

Sif led the human agents back towards the complex, her grip on her sword hard and fierce. Her companions were doing well at fighting Skurge even Fandral who was gripping his bleeding side. They were keeping him distracted, but that was by no means an easy task, yet Sif was able lead the others past without him noticing. 

Sif wanted to help them, but she knew that if they encountered Amora in this place, then the humans would need every bit of support she could give. Thor, in his condition, would also be easily susceptible to Amora’s spell, and Sif had vowed that it would never happen again. 

They descended down the stairs. The agents all had torches on which paved a path of light through the darkness, and also, next to her, Sif could see the faint blue glow of the Black Widow’s suit. 

Then Sif heard a crackle of a coms. 

_“Hel-lo?! Are you guys still out there?”_ Sif heard the voice of Stark over Natasha’s earpiece. Natasha responded immediately. 

“We’re here, Tony,” Romanoff replied. “We’re making our way into the complex. Do you have a fix on Steve?” 

_“No. There are a lot of life signs down here, and J can’t distinguish between them despite the power boost Thor’s hammer gave my suit. There could be some kind of dampening field throughout the complex, but we’re not too worried. Thor seems to know where to go. He’s not staying still long enough to wait for you, so do your best to try and find us. Don’t get lost.”_

“We read you.” 

The group carried on through what felt like a labyrinth of corridors. There were many doors, each with small glass windows, so when any of the group peered inside, there was only more darkness, but it didn’t take a genius to know that these were prison cells. 

Eventually they walked up a slope, at the top of which were a larger and heavier set of doors and a bright light was emanating from a round window. Sif and May approached with caution. They both peered through the window but couldn’t make out anything. There was, however, the sound of voices and machinery. 

Sif looked at May and was pleased that only a slight nod of her head was needed for the human woman to understand what she wanted. May signalled with her hand, and Barton and Romanoff sided up beside her on Sif’s right. Coulson and Skye carefully sided up the left, keeping a protective stance around Simmons, who looked nervous as Hel. 

Sif looked at them all and received more silent acknowledgements that they were ready. It took but a single kick to the metal door, and everything opened up. Sif marched inside the room and was instantly bombarded by a hail of bullets. 

The bullets bounded off her harmlessly, but she threw her shield to the side, knowing that May could catch it and use it to defend herself. Sure enough the woman caught it and was able to fire off some gunshots of her own whilst Sif headed for the people firing at them. Natasha and Clint kept a close and tight formation near her, firing when they could as well. 

There were over twenty people in here, some were clearly not adapt at shooting. Some weren’t even armed, for they were scientists, but it didn’t stop any of them from trying to fight back. 

Sif was able to get close enough to start using her sword and fists, but when she grabbed one man and starred directly into his eyes, she understood. His eyes were hazed with an unnatural blue colour, so Sif knew that this was not Amora’s usual enchantment. Something else was at play. Something much stronger than her fellow Asgardian’s magic. This was no mere spell… it was much, much more. 

“Don’t kill them!” Sif cried out, knocking the man out cold with a restrained punch to his face. “They’re bewitched!” 

“That’s easy for you to say!” Skye cried out from behind the shelter of some computer terminals. May then took five men out with a scary succession knee-cap shots, which had Skye and Sif more than impressed. “Okay, I think we can try.” 

Clint, Skye, and Coulson then began to lay down some cover shots. Barton had run and skidded into a roll, away from the protection of the shield, using some of the equipment as cover. He shot off a couple of arrows, aiming for the far walls. There were some small explosions that allowed Sif, May, and Natasha to take the opposition down hand to hand. 

The three women fought side by side against the first opponents who recovered from the explosions. They supported one another, carrying out every thigh choke, every punch and kick with a flawless finesse that looked to the others to be like a beautiful choreographed dance. 

The room fell silent. Unconscious bodies lay on the floor along with a whole mess of debris, and there was barely a scratch on any of the three women. 

“Nicely done, ladies.” Coulson walked in with the others, Gemma rushing over to some of the bodies to check their conditions. Barton and Skye kept the doorway covered in case they got more visitors. “So what is this place?” 

It was a lab with machines and computers that looked beyond any level of sophistication any of them had ever seen. Except Sif. She looked over and touched the equipment with familiarity, and it angered her. 

“I can’t gain access to these computers,” May said, who had already tried one of the consoles. “Skye?” 

Skye moved in and tried to access them as well. Her fingers flew over the keyboard in a blur, but she shook her head. “This is way beyond me. I can’t…” 

Sif had no trouble at all. She gently eased Skye across, and within seconds the screen was alight with scrolling words and formula. It also didn’t take long to know what Amora was doing. 

“She’s been collecting your Captain’s blood,” Sif announced, barely keeping the temper in her voice restrained. “She altered it, experimented on it. There is Asgardian DNA within him!” 

“Thor’s?” May asked. 

“It must be. It would certainly explain as to why Thor has been going through the change. They are linked, bonded together. We need to destroy all of the samples she has here. Amora cannot be allowed to use any of it, and we must find your Captain quickly. She will surely kill him once she has done what she has set out to do.” 

“Er… what is she gonna do?” 

Sif couldn’t answer. She couldn’t believe what Amora had done and what she was planning. 

She had stopped Amora before and she was going to do it again. 

\-----------------------------

It didn’t take long for Fitz to get the bus back in working order. Selvig and Banner tried help, but the little Scottish man was buzzing around like a busy bee fixing everything himself and shouting for them to _‘stay outta m’way!’_

So, Bruce and Erik did what they could without Fitz getting even more flustered and Ward kept watch over Jane Foster. 

She was still out cold and breathing fine, but Ward couldn’t stop thinking about the spell placed upon her. Alien magic… he’d seen that. He knew what it did to people, but this was different. It was mind control of a kind that even he couldn’t fathom and he knew about manipulation. 

If only she was awake. The things she could say. 

Ward was suddenly startled when he heard the grinding of metal. He jumped to his feet and pointed his gun to the opening ramp. He hoped it was the others returning, or at least the Asgardians coming back from their battle with the Skurge guy… but he was wrong. 

The woman was stunningly beautiful in her green dress, even though it and her long blonde hair were drenched from the rain, and Ward knew who she was and that his weapon would be futile against her. They were trapped. Sif had told them to run, to flee, but that wasn’t going to happen… 

“Stop!” 

“Are you really the only ones left here?” Amora asked, completely ignoring his order as she slowly strode up the ramp. 

“Back off. Don’t come any further.” 

She laughed at him. She actually laughed and carried on walking towards him, her hands up in a defensive posture. 

“I’m not going to harm you, human. I’m really not. In fact, I’m not here for you at all.” 

“I won’t let you harm her.” 

“As if you could stop me.” Amora waved a dismissive hand and stood directly in front of Ward. He believed her. The intensity of her eyes bore so deep into him that he froze. He couldn’t move. 

God, she’s beautiful. 

Warm fingers caressed his forehead. Then he wasn’t in control any more. 

“I’m not here for Jane Foster.” With a small gesture of her head, her eyes looking behind him, Ward turned and saw her real target. He wasn’t going to get in the way, it wouldn’t be right. “Hello, Doctor Banner. I’ve heard so much about you.” 

\-------------------

“J, are you mapping this?” 

_“Yes, sir.”_

“Good.” 

Tony was doing his best to keep up with Thor, who was flying through the complex with his bare toes scraping over the ground, but he still had to keep a little distance as Mjolnir and Thor were shooting off bolts of lightning to take out the guards that had appeared out of nowhere. Those that had escaped those strikes were floored with a bare fist or a blow from the hammer. 

Thankfully Natasha had communicated the whole _‘don’t kill them they’re under a spell’_ thing over Tony’s coms before the guards appeared, though Tony wasn’t entirely convinced they were ‘okay’ when Thor stormed his way through them. 

The man’s lack of concern over them was troubling, even if they were the enemy. Thor was driven with a purpose to find Steve and nothing was going to stop him. Whatever it was that was making him and Steve like this, soon it was going to reach a point when someone was going to get killed. Tony wasn’t going to let that happen, if he could. 

“Thor… slow down!” 

_“He’s not slowing down, sir.”_

“Thanks, Jarvis, I can see that.” 

Tony called out to Thor again, but the man was not listening in the slightest. Thor kept going, beating his way through the opposition with a determined fury that had Tony admitting was a little scary. However, that was nothing compared to a screaming howl of angry rage that was horribly familiar as it reverberated and echoed through the entire complex. 

“Oh, shit.” 

Thor turned around. His pale face and red eyes saddened. 

“Banner.” 


	10. The Fall of Asgard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sons of Odin have to choose the fate of Asgard... of the life of Steve Rogers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear gods!! 
> 
> It has been really difficult writing this chapter. Nothing seemed good enough, nothing felt right, but I got there in the end. My apologies to those who are following this story, it has been a long time since I last updated, but I can assure you this story will not be abandoned! I am determined! 
> 
> This is not beta'd. If there is anyone who can help, to help me improve this I would dearly love it! But for the mean time, enjoy and I hope it still makes sense. 
> 
> \------------------

“Why don’t you go for a run?” 

There was a boom of thunder. Steve felt the sound vibrate through the walls and floor of the room and he felt it through him. He felt Thor’s presence within it. The charge of him was engulfing Steve, soothing him and energising him at the same time. Even though Thor wasn’t in bed with him, the warmth of him was. 

His warmth was fading. Thor’s physical touch was invigorating, electric and not having it now hurt. Not touching him was actually hurting. Thor’s voice alleviated some of the hurt. 

“I cannot leave the compound without an escort.” 

Steve had, in one their post orgasm and brief interludes, gave him an order in which Thor wasn’t allowed to leave or go anywhere without him. Thor knew full well he was in no condition for a run, neither of them were, he just had to mention it. 

As Steve still half breathed and half drooled on the pillow, he tried to move and turn onto his back to look at Thor. He was still so tired from what Thor had done with him but the hurt of not having Thor next to him or in him, was unbearable.

“How about the gym?” Steve wasn’t sure why he asked. The last thing he wanted was for Thor to leave, so why suggest anywhere except coming back to bed? His voice croaked and there was a lingering aftertaste fuzzing up his mouth and tongue. Steve grimaced. 

“I would go there if I knew it would help. Alas it is not what I need… or want.” 

A smile cracked upon Steve’s face. He didn’t want Thor to leave either. 

“Are all you Asgardians like this?” Steve asked, curiously. 

“Like what?”

“I meant, are all your people as energetic as you? Is your current state normal for your kind?”

“Yes!”

Steve detected a little uncertainty in Thor’s voice. He hadn’t looked normal when he stepped out of that elevator, hell Steve hadn’t been normal either. He needed answers as to why he had been craving Thor ever since the Chitauri invaded New York, he wanted to know why he had felt like shit except when Thor was inside him.

With every amount of strength he had left within him and a huge amount of effort, Steve turned round onto his back. 

There he was. Sitting on the chair by the window, blue crackles of energy flowing off of his huge naked body. Still unsated, still so hard. 

“So I take it you’re still wanting to…?” 

_Stupid question, Rogers. Of course he still wants to keep going… just let him. You want him to keep going for crying out loud!_

A much louder crack of thunder sounded outside. Or was it inside? Steve’s body shuddered with ripples and convulsions of pleasure brought about by that powerful thunderous sound. The rolls of the thunder continued like waves over his skin and with it he heard the groans of desperation and need from Thor. 

“Good god, how long can you typically go?” Steve gasped, the disbelief more at himself asking that than really wanting to know how long Thor could keep it up. 

“Days, sometimes longer.”

Steve choked mid-breath and the words from his mouth spat out with a spray of saliva. _“Days? Longer?”_

Days. Steve felt terrified and excited by that. 

“It is possible. Aye.”

“Longer? How much longer?” asked Steve. 

“It depends. It is our norm to last a great deal. Our bodies can endure a lot more than any on Midgard, our drives are stronger and to satiate those drives it often requires more than mere minutes or hours. It can vary on whether it is with man or woman, but yes…it can take much longer, one of your Earth weeks, mayhap?” 

_Weeks?!_

“We are vastly different and humans do not have the stamina or endurance to match us, in battle nor in sex. Forgive me…most humans cannot withstand us…especially when our attraction towards them is deep. It’s then it can become most dangerous.”

It was only a momentary change but Steve saw it. The sadness in Thor’s eyes was clear. He was speaking of Jane. 

Steve had forgotten about Doctor Foster, so had Thor because there hadn’t been anything on their minds except each other. Nothing else registered and now Steve felt bad about what Thor had just said. They had done what they had just done and with a force and strength that no normal human could have done. So Thor could never have this with Jane, not if his sex drive was normally like this. He must fear that he would hurt her. 

Thor held up his hand and shook his head, smiling kindly. It was then that Steve realised he must have his concern and worry face on. Sometimes it was really difficult to hide what he was feeling. 

“Thank you, but there is no need to console me. I’m fine. Jane Foster is happy where she is now.”

She may well be, but Thor didn’t seem convinced when he said that. 

“You still love her, don’t you?”

Thor nodded. “Aye. Very much. My feelings for her cannot wane.”

“What about us? How did we get here?”

 

_Mechanical whirs and grinds echoed inside the pod and Steve saw rows of needles slowly moving towards him. Then there was pain._

_He felt the stabs of the needles and then what felt like liquid ice being injected into him. The whole of his body burned with an intense cold but just as everything went numb, when he thought the pain had finally stopped, he was bombarded with more, like nothing he had ever before imagined. Waves of heat torched his skin, his bones cracked and Steve felt as if he was being stretched. He screamed, but eventually his voice gave out and then he dropped into unconsciousness._

_The cracking open of the pod brought Steve back around. He was dazed and confused, but he was able to move and step out when the restraints snapped off of him. He actually stumbled, down and into the waiting arms of two men, who were gobsmacked at the sight of him._

_Steve looked down and couldn’t believe what had happened._

_He had been a 90lb weakling before this procedure. He had been ill with so many different ailments that he was hardly able to walk. Now he’d changed. He felt powerful… strong._

Thor smiled weakly and got up from the chair, picking up a discarded pair of jogging bottoms from the floor and slipping them and a t-shirt on. 

“Thor? I need to know. This…what happened…it wasn’t easy for me. I wasn’t myself after you left.” 

“I know.” Thor smiled and from the side table, he picked up a small black band and tied the long sweaty strands of his hair away from his face. “You need rest and if I stay I know you will not get what you need.” 

“You know what I need?” Steve teased. 

“I do indeed. Forgive me, I do not mean to demean you, or discard you thinking all this folly. I would gladly, most eagerly, join you again, I would have you within me too, but you need respite, and so I must leave. I will not cause you injury because of my lust. So sleep and rest before my return. That is, if you wish to remain until I do?” 

_Don’t go. Please don’t go… you can’t leave me._

Steve began to panic as Thor slowly walked to the door. As the distance between them grew, so did the same familiar pain and sickness he had felt for the months in Thor’s absence. In the weak condition he was already in, Steve scrambled as best he could out of the bed. He fell to the floor but he got back up and staggered to the door through which Thor had already gone through. 

Steve practically fell through it. He collapsed again to the cold concrete floor and crawled to the wall before hauling himself back to his feet. 

“Thor!” 

In the dimly lit corridor there was no sign of Thor at all. The pain wrenched and intensified. Steve gasped and cried out. 

“Help me! Thor please!” 

_Hang on a minute. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t the Avengers tower._

This was real, this was where he was and he remembered. He was a prisoner of the Asgardian Sorceress. She had told him that she had helped Erskine develop the serum he had in him. She had used Thor’s DNA. 

Steve grimaced as he tried to steady himself against the wall, but his legs were shaking too much, everything was hurting and god… he felt like he was going to die. 

Thor would come for him, he would save Steve surely? 

He wasn’t going to give up, Steve had never been the one to do so. He would find Thor himself, not cower on the floor until that woman came to kill him. 

His mind was much stronger than his body, for as he went to push away from the wall, his legs finally gave up underneath him. He crashed to the ground and crumpled into a heap. 

“She wants to kill you, Soldier.” The voice came out of the darkness, it seethed and oozed like something foul. “She will if I don’t help you. Do you want me to help you, little man?” 

“Yes. Help me.” 

Steve felt a hand touch the back of his head. He looked up and he had never been happier. Thor was there… he was kneeling beside him and was smiling at him. 

Thor was smiling a deathly cold blue smile. 

\--------------------------------- 

The bells tolled throughout the palace and the city. Soldiers hurried through the corridors in search of the missing prisoner. 

Odin was furious. He just couldn’t fathom as to why Yggdrasil had allowed Loki to be set free, for the life tree surely knew that Loki would plan this escape. 

Heimdall didn’t see Loki and while the Tesseract hadn’t been used either, Odin and he both knew that Loki had used one of the hidden portals to Midgard. 

Odin went to the caves whilst everyone was searching elsewhere. He stood in the darkness, at the very same spot where Loki had been held and spoke but one word to the life tree. 

“Why?” 

**The Jotun is who he is. There is still a chance of redemption for him. The Allfather knows why.**

Odin bowed his head in sadness. A long time ago he made a decision to take Laufrey’s son and Odin knew that one day it would come to this. 

**The sons of Odin, together, can restore the balance the Sorceress has broken.**

“Loki planned all this with her, both of them are responsible for this unnatural…” 

**Asgard will rise or fall because of the decisions the Odinsons make. The future for the Nine Realms will be bright or the brothers will bring forth Ragnarok.**

So it was down to Thor and Loki. 

Yggdrasil had spoken. There was nothing Odin could do except hope that the both of them would make the right decision. 

\----------------------- 

He wasn’t new to the sight of monsters. 

In his youth he had seen and fought against Frost giants, demons and all manner of monsters, but nothing was quite like this one. 

_“We are not your enemies, Banner! Try to think!”_

Thor had tackled this creature before and the Hulk had given Thor more than a few beatings, some of which did actually hurt and very nearly made the Asgardian bleed, but there had been no mistaking the anger and rage Thor had felt from it. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced or known. 

He could have taken the Hulk down. If Thor hadn’t started his bizarre second change after meeting Steve, he would have bested the big guy. Probably. 

Now, hearing that roar through the complex and knowing what the Hulk could do to everything and everyone around him, Thor felt strangely disinterested. Tony’s cries of help and the voices of the others over the coms, were nothing. Thor didn’t stop. 

He didn’t think of his friends at all. 

There wasn’t anything else as important as Steve. 

So as the building shook and collapsed around him, Thor went deeper into the complex and began to call out to Steve, knocking aside the falling debris as if it was nothing. Even those guards who were trying to stop him had given up and were now running past him, in an attempt to flee before they were all buried. 

On any given day Thor would help them, see them to safety. He would at least try and ensure their well-being. He would be concerned about everyone’s life but now Thor didn’t care. 

That wasn’t like him at all. 

“Thor!” 

He heard the whisper through the all the chaos and the noise. He heard his name and knew the voice so when Thor rounded another corner, in the darkness, he saw Steve collapsed on the floor. 

He was virtually naked, battered and bruised… blood dripping from his split lip and a cut above his eyes. Without even pausing for a second, Thor let go of Mjolnir, rushed up to Steve and dropped down to his knees to take Steve up in his arms. 

“Help me.” Steve begged. 

“I’m here. I’m right here! It’s going to be all right!” 

When he attempted to plant a kiss to Steve’s bloodied forehead, Thor paused. Something was wrong. 

\----------------- 

As the beast rampaged, the Warrior Three tried to stop it, a useless endeavour for the creature was under her control. 

They had no hope at all. 

She marvelled at how destructive the Hulk was. The man Banner had tried to duplicate her work and this creature was the result of it all. Amora was going to have to try his experiments too. She would create more like him. An army of hulks was exciting prospect… the possibilities of what they could do were endless. 

First she had to get away from here. This lab was one of three Amora had managed to create during her exile and as the Hulk was going to destroy it for her, they had to get away. 

If Loki was able to deliver they would be able to stay hidden. The Avengers nor the Warrior Three would be able to track them, Heimdall couldn’t either and Amora could complete her experiment. Finally. 

However, the two scientists who she had put under her thrall, were not moving quickly enough to make the repairs on this clapped out vessel. Ward still had Jane Foster under guard, but Selvig and Fitz were hopelessly slow in their repairs, so she stormed down to the engine room and did the repairs herself. 

The technology was so simple, it was pitiful. Having lived for centuries on this disgusting planet, Amora didn’t have any trouble in correcting the problem. The men kept apologising to her, but she didn’t have time to listen to their snivelling and petty grovelling. 

She would break the bond Thor and Steve had. She would end it all with her own bare hands by snapping that human’s neck. Thor and Asgard and the Nine Realms would be hers. 

\---------------------- 

As soon as they all heard the roar, they ran at full pelt towards the stairs. When the debris began to fall there was fear that the stairs wouldn’t be accessible, but when Tony caught up with them everyone knew, that with his aid and know-how, they would get out. 

But first they would have to face the Hulk and that was by no means an easy thing to do. 

Coulson kept calling for Fitz and Ward on the coms. He hoped that they and Doctor Selvig were okay, but he wasn’t getting through or they weren’t responding. Eventually he gave up even trying and focused instead on how they were going to possibly stop the Hulk without the God of Thunder by their side. 

“Hey! Where’s Thor?” Clint obviously thought the same thing when he directed the question at Tony. 

Stark was about to answer, however they had reached the stairs and they were far from intact. They were breaking apart with every shocking pound from the Hulk on the surface. 

Coulson knew that Tony could fly some of them up there, if not all of them, but as soon as they got through that hole, they would become a target. Stark could even be swiped out of the sky. Coulson also knew there were other Asgardians up there, trying their best to keep Banner at bay, but there was still one who would fight them and be just as dangerous. 

“Thor’s gone… he’s out of it.” Tony replied sombrely, inspecting the stairs as Jarvis gave him intel in the best way to get up there. “Nothing is registering in that brain of his except for Steve. He’s got major Cap withdrawal and he’s jonesing for Steve so bad I don’t think anything else exists in that thunder brain of his.” 

“You’re right, Stark.” Sif said. “In his current state of change, the only thing that will matter to him is to be reunited with the Captain." 

The ground and walls shook again and Hulk’s roars made more of the debris fall. Sif saw some come tumbling down towards them and immediately grabbed Simmons to pull her out of the way. 

“The Enchantress used Thor’s DNA in the captain’s serum.” Sif added. There were a few murmurs of ‘oh’ and ‘that makes sense.’ “She has also used the forbidden magics in that serum to bind them together permanently. Only their deaths will break it.” 

“So, Thor and Captain Rogers are essentially married?” asked Simmons, with a broad hopeful grin on her face. “Aw.” 

“Mazletov!” Barton declared. 

“I don’t know what that means.” Sif said frowning at Clint, but carried on before he or anyone else could explain. “But yes…essentially they are married. This serum she made has connected Thor and Steven permanently. If one of them dies, the other will become nothing but a mindless empty shell of who they once were.” 

“So why is Amora doing all this?” asked May. 

“For power and the throne no doubt. For Thor. She has taken a lot of blood from Captain Rogers… from Steve, so I think she is trying to perfect the serum. To maybe enable her to bond with Thor and control him. Her own spells and enchantments do not last… this could.” 

“So, Simmons, keep that blood safe.” Coulson said. “We’ll keep you safe too.” 

Gemma smiled and gave the bag she was carrying a little pat. She was nervous but still optimistic. 

“Okay, let’s go and stop Amora!” May said. 

“How? With Hulk and that Skurge guy out there?!” Skye replied. 

Coulson turned to Stark. “What about Veronica?” 

Tony’s eyes widened in surprise. “How do you know about Veronica?” 

“We’re SHIELD.” Coulson replied, shrugging his shoulders. 

Tony sighed, muttered something to Jarvis about upgrading their security, and wiped some cement dust from his helmet. 

“She’s no-where near finished.” Tony replied. “She won’t work against him.” 

_“If I may suggest, sir?”_ JARVIS intervened. _“In her current state, Veronica could well suffice as a distraction rather containment as you and Doctor Banner intended.”_

Tony liked that. He nodded. “Good one, buddy. What about the Buster? Any part of that usable?” 

_“We can certainly try, sir.”_

“Good. Let’s get up there before the big guy decimates everything in sight!” 

No one appeared to be against this plan, even though Sif had no idea who this Veronica was. So as Clint began to cautiously climb the stairs, telling everyone to follow his steps exactly, Sif hoped that this Veronica warrior would be enough. 

Sif was concerned for her friends above. She wanted to help them but the life of Captain Rogers was much more important right now. He and his blood had to be saved as well, so Simmons, who was holding the bag of the vials they had taken, had to be protected too. 

The man of Iron appeared to register Sif’s concern. He noticed her looking at the SHIELD agent and at the way Gemma was clutching her bag to her chest. The blood was important, Simmons had to be taken somewhere safe. So he stood next to Gemma and wrapped his arm around her waist. The young woman looked flustered and a little scared as she clutched the bag with the vials tighter. Seconds later, the Iron Man flew up through the hole with her, whilst the others began to climb. 

Sif held back, hoping to get the opportunity to slip away and find Thor herself. She wasn’t going to let Amora win again. She wasn’t going to allow that woman to start another war. Lorelli was imprisoned because she had enchanted Thor and Asgardian soldiers with the same magic, but hers had been a futile attempt. Lorelli was a powerful Sorceress, but nothing like Amora. 

Amora would succeed. The possibility was very real of her taking over Asgard. 

“You’re going to find him, aren’t you?” 

Sif turned and Melinda May was standing next to her. May had her arms folded across her chest and had an expression on her face that showed that she already knew the answer to that question. Sif bobbed her head in acknowledgement. Neither of them had to say anything further because at that moment, Sif knew that this woman was coming with her. 

Sure enough May turned round and called after the others who were already ascending the stairs after Hawkeye. 

“We’re going after Thor!” May called out. 

“May… this place is going to collapse!” Coulson yelled from above. “You’re not Asgardian and you’re not invulnerable to secret underground medical labs collapsing down on top of you!” 

“We will be fine! Have no fears, Son of Coul.” Sif replied. “Go! Stop Amora! Help the others!” 

That and the look from May was enough for Coulson and so he and the others made their way as quickly as they could up the rickety stairs. 

The two women began to run back into the depths of the complex, navigating their way through those corridors which weren’t completely blocked off by the rubble. Sif didn’t know exactly where they were going, or where Thor and Steve Rogers would be, but eventually Sif heard the distressed sound of her friend’s voice. 

She heard the mention of a name that froze her to the spot. 

The two of them turned a corner and sure enough, there was Thor surrounded by illusions of Steve Rogers that could have only been created by Loki. 

With their weapons in hands, the women came from behind the corner of the wall and rushed forward to help the distraught Thor. They were just illusions, they weren’t really there, so the two women ran through them, which did nothing to them except make the Steve's laugh and flicker. 

What worried Sif the most was that Mjolnir wasn’t in Thor’s hand. Instead it was on the floor vibrating loudly, calling out to him. Instead of empowering Thor, Mjolnir was being drained dry of all that power from the star, they were dying. The bond they had shared for thousands of years was somehow breaking apart. 

“You miss me?” 

_Oh by the gods…he was actually here._

Sif spun round in circles, scanning the darkness for signs of the real Loki. How he had escaped from Asgard, she didn’t know, but getting him back and restoring Thor and Steve back to normal was going to be even more difficult. 

Thor had not been hallucinating before, he _had_ seen Loki. His brother had been playing mind games with him, not Amora. Sif couldn’t believe it, but this was his doing. Loki had been behind this all along! 

“Where is Steve Rogers?” May demanded. 

“He’s with me.” One of the Steve clones said, breaking out of the circle formation to approach Thor. “He’s safe, for the time being.” 

Thor groaned. His feet wobbled and then he finally dropped to the ground, clutching at his head in pain. Sif and May dropped down beside him, hoping to give him support, but they didn’t dare touch him as the crackles of electricity were erratically rippling over his body. As they became more intense, the heat and power forced the two of them backwards. 

The Clone bent down without concern and Steve’s face darkened with a blue hue. 

“I can take you to him…” The Clone tentatively reached out his hand and while he couldn’t actually place it on Thor’s cheek, it hovered close and mimicked a soft comforting stroke. “You can be with him again. You’d like that… yes?” 

A frown of confusion and despair formed upon Thor’s face. He was struggling so hard to fight through the confliction bombarding him. He knew it was Loki and the detest he had for what his brother was doing was clear, but Thor was confused. 

All he could see was Steve, and while he knew he was an illusion, it didn’t stop his body from craving to be reunited with him. It didn’t stop the sporadic bursts of lightening shooting from his body or his shaking withdrawal. 

“He needs me.” Thor’s voice croaked with a gravelly choke. “Please…brother! Take me to him!” 

His body jerked with every expulsion of energy. Mjolnir tried to absorb it, but the electricity was expunged towards the walls and ceilings, breaking them up. 

“No! Thor! Don’t!” Sif tried to get closer. She didn’t care that the heat and energy pouring off of Thor was dangerous. The desire in his eyes to follow Loki’s clone and to see Steve was strong, Sif had to do something. Her own safety wasn’t an issue. 

May grabbed her arm and pulled her back when a bolt of lightning nearly hit Sif. 

“No! Sif, he’ll kill you! He can’t control himself!” 

“I must help him! I cannot and will not leave him here! I won’t let Loki take him!” 

The Clone laughed. He whispered something in Thor’s ear, he giggled with glee and took a step back, not that he needed to. The expulsion of energy that came from Thor and Mjolnir, was immense. 

Thor screamed and released lightning that literally brought the tunnels down upon them. 

Sif reacted as she could. She would have gone directly to save Thor, but instead the woman… Melinda May was the one she shielded and protected with her body. 

“THOR!” 

Sif screamed for her friend, even as she and May were buried beneath the rubble. 

\------------------- 

_Years went by there was still no sign of Loki going through the change._

_Odin had said that sometimes, rarely, it can take longer but Loki didn’t want to wait anymore. He went to the healers, he spoke to the priests and priestesses, as well as his mother, hoping for some kind of remedy or spell that would bring about his change._

_None of them could find anything. Frigga was concerned as Loki was at least, but even she did not have an explanation as to why he was not changing._

_Loki was angry and that anger grew and twisted for years. Though it never cut so deep when he saw how happy his brother was. How popular he was._

_A strange love/hate relationship developed with Thor. Loki enjoyed spending time and being around his brother, in fact they were inseparable. Loki wanted to be like Thor, popular and powerful, but a seething jealousy also grew within him. That jealousy made him hate Thor for being so popular amongst the ladies and on those rare occasions when his brother bedded men… it hurt Loki even more._

_Loki was returning from his studies in the library, face deep in one of the ancient tomes from his Grandfather’s time, and he wasn’t looking where he was going. Loki barged straight into a half-naked man who just happened to be emerging from Thor’s chambers._

_“Sorry!”_

_Clearly worn out from sex, the man was grinning from ear to ear and was in a complete daze._

_The man was young, probably about 115 years old, but as soon as Loki looked at him and saw the boyish grin, he remembered. This man was a warrior in training. Loki had seen him sparring with the others in the courtyard and as one of the best, naturally Thor took an interest. Loki never thought his brother's interest would be this involved. He wasn't even Thor's type!_

_Thor himself appeared in the doorway, wearing just a towel around his waist. He looked drenched but he was far from washed. Thor turned the young man around and gave him a light shove in the right direction of where he needed to go. Thor laughed and then he nudged Loki in a friendly manner._

_“It was his first time!” Thor beamed and gave Loki a wink. “He did extremely well!”_

_Loki scowled. Of course. The young man had no doubt gone through his change and Thor always helped those who needed it. His absence for a good few weeks should have been a clue but Loki never wanted to think about Thor and those he helped or enjoyed. It sickened Loki’s stomach. It hurt._

_Seeing Loki’s disdain, the smile vanished from Thor’s face and he saddened._

_“I’m sorry.” Thor's sincerity and concern toward Loki was just as excruciating. Thor clamped a hand on Loki’s shoulder and looked him directly in the eye. “I forgot that you have still not…”_

_“Have still not?! Thor! I may not have gone through my change but I **have** had I'll have you know!” _

_“My pardon! Poor choice of words. Then what can I do for you? What can I do to help you, Loki? Tell me and I’ll do it!”_

_“Thor, you don’t need to…”_

_“You would refuse my help, Loki?! After all this time?! If Mother cannot help then surely someone else can! I want to! Can I help you brother, please?”_

_“Thor… I love you... you know that, but what can you do for me this time? What can you do that Mother and all the healers cannot?!”_

_A very familiar look on Thor's face gave Loki concern. Thor was about to say something would get them both into trouble, just like when they were kids._

_“Karnilla!" Thor blurted out the name quite loudly. "We’ll go and see Karnilla! She knows everything!”_

_The Queen of Nornheim?_

_Loki shook his head and slammed his book shut. “No! Oh no no no!! Thor! A thousand times, no!”_

_Thor grinned and nodded. “Why not?!”_

_The woman was the top sorceress in all the Nine Realms but she seldom used her powers and knowledge to help others. Karnilla was mysterious and ancient, wrathful too, more so than their father it was said. To approach her in her temple, to even have the cheek to seek her out, it was dangerous. Which is of course a very Thor thing to do._

_“Thor, she won’t help us.” Loki said, trying ignore the smell of his brother. “Whatever the reason I’m not going through the change, it is beneath her!”_

_Thor frowned and placed his hands on his hips, making the towel slip slightly. Loki sighed and rolled his eyes._

_“You’re a son of Odin!” said Thor. “She must help! We will make her help! Come with me brother, we’ll see her together!”_

_Loki had to smile. Thor always did look out for him. However this was a ridiculous idea, Karnilla and the Norn fates didn’t help just anyone and if they did… sacrifices had to be made. Such sacrifices were not slight or small… it often meant life._

_While everything inside Loki was telling him this was a bad idea and really they shouldn’t go anywhere near the temple, he knew that once Thor had an idea in his head, he would go about doing it. There was no backing out._

_Loki nodded his head and Thor’s smile made his even brighter. That was until Thor reached out to hug him._

_“Ugh! No!” Loki backed away as he gave his brother a shove. “Go shower, Thor! You still have him all over you!”_

_“Ah yes. It wouldn’t be wise to see her in my state.”_

_After waiting for 30 minutes for his brother to wash and dress himself, Loki and Thor ventured to Nornheim and the Nornkeep to see Karnilla._

_The Queen of the Norns did not want to see them._

_The voices of fate… that old woman… said the Queen did not have time to deal with the boys and their infantile problems. Thor tried his best to charm his way in but the old Haag was having none of it. Then there were a few scuffles with the demon guards, which only angered Thor more and while Loki was pleased his brother was doing so much for him… there was a limit._

_Odin would find out and having father pissed off at them both? Never good._

_Thor and Loki were physically ejected for the last time. They narrowly missed landing in the river, but after the few rolls down the grassy slopes they were covered head to toe in mud, which was more than a little humiliating. Loki wanted to go back home, he was embarrassed enough. He didn’t want Thor to make things worse. Knowing his brother’s temper and persistence, Loki grabbed at Thor’s tunic to hold him back…but he didn’t need to._

_The two women standing above them were not Norns. Asgardian. Still scary._

_Loki wiped the mud from his face and slowly he and Thor helped each other to their feet. Both of the men smiled as best they could._

_Loki could sense power in these two women. There was an air of danger around them. They were beautiful for sure, but Loki knew power when he saw it, which was probably why they were here. Karnilla would no doubt have sensed the power in them and took them on as her students. Which was virtually unheard of._

_One lady was auburn haired, dressed in a blue dress with gold trim… she stunning and there was a lot of fiery passion those green eyes._

_The blonde was different. The eldest of the two, she wore white with green and gold. Now there was a much stronger fire inside her, much stronger than the other (her sister clearly) and there was something frightening about her. The Norns were beings that were scary beyond most demons and monsters from Hel... they had control over life and death and destiny. This blonde woman was Asgardian yet there was potential for her to be like Karnilla. That was even scarier._

_“Hello. I’m Thor, son of Odin.” Thor had sauntered up to the blonde woman, without so much as a care that he was drenched and soaked with mud, and picked up her hand to kiss her knuckles._

_“Yes. We know.” said the younger of the two. The blonde said nothing, but like all women, both looked at Thor as if he was the most beautiful thing in the world._

_“You shouldn’t be here.” said the Blonde, taking hold of Thor’s hand and leading him away. “The Allfather wouldn’t like it.”_

_Thor looked over his shoulder at Loki. His smile saddened for a moment, knowing that he was supposed to be helping his brother, not picking up another flight of fancy. Loki sighed and waved Thor away, indicating that it was okay for him to go on._

_Thor mouthed a “thank-you” and his arm slipped around the young woman’s waist. They began to walk away and the further they got, the colder Loki felt. Resentment grew inside him, it felt as if icicles were forming around his heart._

\-------------------------- 

He was enveloped in ice. A cold and bitter shroud of arms wrapped around him and squeezed him tightly, draining him of any warmth he still had left in his body. 

Steve knew it wasn’t Thor who carried him away from the destruction of this base. But it was…wasn’t it? Why else was he holding on to him? 

Everything hurt and the cold was getting worse with every second. The person who was carrying him, sickened him and scared him but he couldn’t resist them. Steve was carried to where, he knew not, he was rested down upon another cold surface and the shroud of arms slipped away. 

The cold eased a little, but it didn’t stop him from shivering. 

“Get used to this, Captain. This lifeless feeling is all that is left for you, now.” A cold blue hand stroked against Steve’s cheek. “I have felt like this my whole life, little soldier. I thought it was how I was supposed to feel…but when I didn’t go through what my brother and all the other Aesir went through… I knew there was something different about me.” 

Steve felt the pressure of bony fingers pulling open his eyes. 

It was Thor, but he was blue skinned and his entire body was tattooed with runes of white ice. Instead of long beautiful blonde hair, there was a mane of black with three thick braids woven into it. Eyes of red glared down at Steve. 

Loki. 

“You have known my brother’s love… you are connected with him in a way no one else has had the privilege of. You’ve kissed him, held him and fucked him and felt all his warmth and power…but you do know it’s not really yours. That body you have is not yours… that strength you have is not yours!! You don’t deserve any of it and so I will gladly take it from you. I will make things all better. So neither of us will feel cold and empty ever again!” 

No. 

Steve tried to shout through the chattering of his teeth but the words wouldn’t come out. 

Thor smiled. It was not the smile Steve loved. It promised pain. 

That pain was delivered by a single kiss. 

\------------------ 

The Hulk was always angry, but he had never been like this before. The rage was different, it felt controlled and not by him. 

The puny Asgardians around him were doing their best to bring him down and if Hulk was simply Hulk, he would have surely been defeated. But along with the anger that constantly swarmed his mind, there was pain burrowing like needles and a whispering voice that wouldn’t stop. 

_“Smash them all. Kill them all. For me.”_

The humans were scurrying away like vermin in all directions. The SHIELD agents were trying their best to stop him but the bullets did nothing to him. Their attempts were stupid and lame. So Hulk continued his rampage, swatting away the bullets and humans like they were nothing but flies. 

The Asgardians were a nuisance. When they attacked him, when they cut with those tiny little swords and maces, it actually hurt. The Hulk raged, he swung in attempts to swat them, he ripped up trees and threw boulders, he tore the bunker apart and lobbed it at them but they persisted. 

The bunker was nothing but rubble and debris now, so the people were scurrying around looking for escape or cover. Stupid people, they weren’t even heading towards the large plane right in front of them, instead they were cowering and running to the forest. 

_“Destroy everything. Above and below. Leave nothing behind.”_

Leave nothing behind. That meant destroy everything below the surface. 

As soon as the humans and their Asgardian allies saw Hulk charging for the hole in the ground, his thunderous footsteps breaking the wet soil and earth, they once again tried to stop him with a flurry of bullets and arrows. It did nothing. 

Hulk roared at them, mocking them and defying them. He banged his chest and rose his arm ready to plunge it down into the ground and rip the hole wider. 

Before his arm could even drop, something fell from the sky. A large thick slab of metal, taller than the Hulk, impacted in the ground, nearly taking a chunk out of his arm. Startled by this and momentarily confused, Hulk glared at it and roared. 

Another slab dropped down opposite, forcing the Hulk to spin round and yell at that one. Then there were others, two that thudded into the earth surrounding him. If they had been closer, they would have formed a shell around him, a pathetic attempt to entrap him. 

Banner knew where this came from, deep down his niggling voice was trying to break through the rage and the mind control… he kept whispering a name. 

_"Veronica. Stark is using her! She’s not ready!!"_

“Stark!!” Hulk screamed. He looked at the skies for the familiar signs of Iron Man and seeing none he grabbed one of the embedded slabs of metal and pulled it from the ground. The Asgardians had tried to come at him again, so he swiped the largest of the three Aesir and sent him flying, before ripping up the others and screaming Stark’s name again. “STARK!” 

“Hey, Big Guy.” 

Hulk turned and was immediately whacked in the face by one of the other metal slabs. It only phased him a little bit, but he lashed out with a fist to try and hit the Iron Man standing nearby. Stark dodged and hit him again. 

“Sun’s coming up. Let’s Banner things again, yeah? It’ll be fun!” 

_No. Everything must be destroyed first! There can be nothing left of what we did here!_

Hulk saw the swing and instead of being hit again, his fist grabbed the other end of the metal slab and used it to flip Tony over his shoulder and smash him into the ground. 

“Jarvis!! Deploy! Deploy!” 

_“Not all components are responding, sir!”_

“I don’t care! Deploy the ones that will!” 

“SHUT UP PUNY METAL MAN!!” 

Hulk battered him again and again, he used Stark to swipe back the Asgardian warriors coming in for another attempt to take him down. There were more bullets and arrows, but what made Hulk eventually drop the metal and iron, was a massive metallic hand of red and yellow slamming straight into his face. 

Then the ground gave way and the Hulk fell into darkness bringing Tony Stark down with him. 

\--------------------- 

The world around him was dark. He didn’t know where he was only that breathing was painful and everything he touched hurt. The Steve Rogers he was following, the Steve he could see through the darkness was just an apparition conjured by his brother, but he was compelled to follow wherever it was Loki was taking him. 

The promise of being reunited with Steve was more than enough for Thor to do what Loki wanted. 

Thor had no idea of how long he followed Loki’s illusion of Steve, but every step was tough as if he was pushing through rock and earth. It should have been easy for him to do, but Thor was weak and getting weaker with every step. 

Steve’s voice… Loki’s words kept him going until his feet gave out beneath him. 

“Oh hel. How am I going to carry you now?” 

Loki’s voice was the last thing Thor heard before he passed out. 

When the darkness of unconsciousness emerged into light, the pain and cold had gone. Thor’s vision was blurred with harsh synthetic light and his body felt a hard metal floor. However, when the blurring light faded Thor could see more of his surroundings, even though it was a cell. 

In a dark grey room, Thor was kept behind an energy barrier. There was another on the other side and behind that was the person he had been so desperate to find. 

“Steve!” 

“Thor?” 

A rush of warmth and utter joy washed over Thor. He bolted to his feet and rushed at the barrier. If it had been anyone else, they would have been thrown back from the force, and while he was weak, Thor was able to stand his ground. Steve was not able to when he tried to do the same. 

He was deathly pale and trembling after the rebound had knocked him back. He looked worse than when they had been reunited again after the battle of New York, he looked like death. Steve was calling out his name, he was trying so hard to get to him there were tears streaming down his face. 

“LOKI! Where are you, you bastard?! Show your face damn it!” 

Steve’s demand was met with energy shocks from the cell walls and they both writhed on the floor shaking, unable to utter a sound. When it stopped there was silence and then Loki’s voice echoed through the room. 

“So here you both are. How the mighty have fallen… gods that is such a cliché thing to say, but in your case dear brother… for you and your Captain, it’s fitting. No?” 

Thor curled up into a ball, his arms wrapped around his head as he felt the whoosh of air next to him, the familiar sensation of Loki’s illusion appearing next to him. 

“After all these years, it’s finally going to happen!” Loki whispered with glee. “The witch came through for me! While I had hoped Lorelei and her army could have kept control of you, she is not as powerful as her sister. Amora came through!" 

“Loki, leave him alone!” 

Loki ignored Steve, his hand waved in dismissal towards him as he focused solely on Thor. 

“This has taken too long, Thor! Years of being in your shadow has pained me and finding out my true heritage has only made my agony worse! Now… I will give you one last chance. It’s only fair. Help me. If you truly love me, as you’ve often said, then come back to Asgard with me! Follow me! Serve me! I'll even allow you and Rogers one last time together… do whatever you need to do to each other and then come back to Asgard and willingly accept me as your King, as ruler of Asgard and all the nine realms!” 

Lies. 

Thor knew that Loki wouldn’t let him touch Steve now, he wouldn’t even get near him. Thor’s lack of response or acceptance made Loki angry. Turning his head, Thor saw the illusion of his brother, dressed in his dark green finery. His face was angry and the entirety of the clone flickered and for a brief moment vanished before reappearing. 

“Knowing how this pathetic human is a part of you, I can make you suffer just as I have done! I can make you feel what I went through my entire life, Thor, and more! If you say yes… to me, then I promise you will want for nothing! I will treat you well! I will treat you better than he ever will! Say yes, brother! Say yes to me!” 

“No. Loki. I will not. I am bonded.... to Steve. I will not abandon him... I would rather die.” 

The stern response was met by the room shaking and the lights flickering and plunging the room into darkness. There was a low droning hum as the energy field of his cell disengaged and before Thor could make any move towards Steve, a hand grabbed hold of his hair and wrenched his head back. 

The real Loki’s face was inches from Thor’s and a searing white rage flustered his skin. Blue spit seethed angrily through his clenched teeth. 

“Very well then, _Odin’s son_ , so be it. You don't have to die... but after I'm done with you, you will know loneliness like you’ve never imagined! I will slit that man’s throat and bleed him dry so you will know only the cold empty abyss for the rest of your life! You will beg me to kill you!” 

**The decision has been made. The Fall will commence.**


End file.
